Transcript [EN]: 2025 NYCETC Conference: Built to Learn, Built to Last: A Business Solution

Good morning. I'm Senator Kirstston Gillibrand and welcome to the New York City Employment and Training Coalition's 2025 conference. I'd like to recognize CEO Gregory Morris for his leadership in connecting and advocating on behalf of New York's workforce development community. Thank you to the board of directors and advisory council as well as everyone in attendance today for your efforts to create inclusive pathways for economic mobility and strengthen our workforce. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I'm committed to fighting to protect critical federal investments, especially now that the future of funding for digital skills training, apprenticeship programs, education, child care, healthcare, housing, and more, is up for debate in Washington. I'm eager to work with all of you to advance affordability, equity, and innovation in New York's workforce system and economy. I send my best wishes for productive event and many more years of growth and success. Thank you. Good morning, workforce community. I'm so glad to see everyone here this morning. Uh my name is Chris Watler and it truly is an honor to welcome you to day two of our conference. I just heard that over 680 folks are online yesterday and so you know this community is big important to this city all the things that you do and we are so grateful that you're here with us today. We're in a period of real transition in our city. Expectations are rising. systems are shifting and the need for realignment has never been more urgent. I'm inspired by the role this community plays in shaping what comes next. And with that in mind, I'd want to pass it to my colleague, someone who champions this work with unwavering clarity, Leslie Abby. We She's also the co-chair. We're both co-chairs of the board. And so we're especially excited um to be with you today this morning. Thank you, Chris. Thank you. Thank you so much, Chris. So, yes, I'm Lesley Abby. I am the very proud co-chair along with Chris of the New York City Employment and Training Coalition. And I am so, so thrilled to be here with all of you today for day two of this conference. And when I look around this room, I see problem solvers. I see innovators. I see partners who understand that workforce is fundamentally about people, their aspirations, their challenges, and their ability to build stable and thriving lives. That's really what these two days have been about. And this moment asks all of us to think boldly about the systems we're designing and the opportunities that we're expanding, especially in this moment here in New York City. And our keynote this morning embodies that spirit. He's a good friend of mine. He brings a forwardlooking vision grounded in experience, reminding us what's possible when we design with intention and with purpose. And it is our privilege to welcome our keynote speaker and president of the CDNR Foundation and a great friend to all of us in the workforce community, Randy Moore. Good morning, everyone. All right, we got to do a little bit better than that. Good morning, everyone. Good morning. It's great to see you. And I want to echo those comments uh back to Leslie and Chris who are doing amazing work at Hotbread Kitchen and CEO respectively. Uh and I also want to thank I can't start this morning without thanking Greg, Stephanie, and NYC etc for bringing us all together in community. So I want to begin this morning with a moment of connection, something that reminds us why we gather in spaces like this. My grandfather was a founding pastor and the church that he and his congregation both designed and built from the ground up still stands today in the vibrant community of South Jamaica, Queens, right off of Basley Boulevard. As a kid, I remember him watching him step into this regal looking purple robe. And on certain Sundays, he would pause mid sermon, look out into the congregation, and invite everyone to turn to their neighbor and offer a word of affirmation. And if you were here yesterday, you remember Khalila began us in the same spirit. At the time, I didn't fully understand the theology, but I understood the design of what he was doing. He wasn't just delivering a message, he was constructing community. So, in that spirit, and to be clear, this is not about religion at all, but about community, I want to ask you all to indulge me. Would you please turn to the person on your right and say, "I see you." All right. Now, hold on. We're not done. Now, I'd like you all to turn to the neighbor on your left and say, "I see you." And now what I'd like you all to do is gently place your hands on your own shoulders and say, "I see me." Because the future that we wish to build only becomes possible when we practice the discipline of seeing. Not just who someone is today, but who they can become tomorrow. Once we see the architecture of their potential, we must ensure that the systems see it too. And when we say I see me, we acknowledge that we as leaders and builders are still blueprints in progress ourselves. Now, when Greg invited me to join you as today's keynote speaker, I felt an amalgamation of inspiration, and I'll admit it, y'all, a little anxiety. Uh, inspiration because I care deeply about this city's workforce community. You all are some of the most grounded, brilliant, authentic people I know. and anxiety because what do you say to a room full of people who you've grown up with personally and professionally? But that blend of inspiration and anxiety is something I've only ever felt in one other context amongst people who carry a shared responsibility. And in many ways, that's what this workforce community is. Not a family by lineage, but a family by labor. All united by one conviction. We keep building even when the materials are scarce, even when the funding is tight, and even when the blueprint keeps changing. So, let's do something together. If you've been part of this workforce ecosystem for 40 or more years, would you raise your hand? All right, look at that. Okay, you can put your hands down. 25 or more years. Okay, 15 or more. Okay, five or more. Right. And is there anyone brand new to the space? Okay. Now, everyone raise your hands again if you raise your hands and take a moment to look around you. You can put your hands down. What you just saw is a living architectural timeline of New York City's workforce ecosystem. What I see is decades of wisdom layered alongside new ideas, fresh talent, and emerging leadership. This is the scaffolding of a system that has been built, rebuilt, reinforced, and re reimagined more times than anyone can count. In this ecosystem, there is both room and need for every generation. We learn from one another. We sharpen the tools that build structures for our community. and we strengthen the design together. Because as we begin this conversation about the future we're shaping for New York City, I want us to hold one image clearly. We are not just participants in a system. We are the architects of it. Because if I've learned anything watching my dear grandfather stand by a church that took far longer to build than anyone anticipated, it's this. Sometimes the builders who stay, who keep showing up on the site, who refuse to walk away even when the pipes don't connect the way they should, those are the builders who create structures that last. You are those builders and today we get to talk about collectively the next blueprint. So, uh, 22 years ago, I went to I graduated from the Wilburforce University, which is our All right. Now, uh, which is our nation's first private African-American-owned historically black university, named after William Wilberforce. For those who don't know about Mr. Wil Wilburforce, he was the British abolitionist and philanthropist who was central to ending the transatlantic slave trade. Wilbur Force was more than a school to me. It was a blueprint. And I'm going to tell you why. It was a living example of what it means to build your own institutions when the existing blueprint leaves no doorway. After graduation, I began my career in corporate America in Cincinnati, Ohio. I was very grateful for the opportunities, but I also encountered the same barriers that many young people face today when they enter environments that were designed with with that were never designed with them in mind. It raised a question that I couldn't shake. If the blueprint never imagined you in its design, then where is your doorway into the building? That question took me into the classroom. I relocated to Miami, Florida, where I taught 11th and 12th grade reading in English. And I have to tell you, my students were brilliant. They were so full of talent, humorous, had just warmth in their smiles. Yet many were reading at an elementary school level. Yet in 11th and 12th grade, I remember standing in that classroom struck by how much potential lived inside a system that was never built to support it, a system that was structurally unsound. And that's when something clicked for me. My place wasn't only at the front of the classroom. I wanted to move to the back of the classroom. The place where the wiring is hidden, where the system diagrams live, where decisions about opportunity and access are made long before a young person ever steps into a school or a workplace. Perhaps if I could understand the system, I could help redesign it. If I could get behind the walls, maybe I could help to fix the pipes. That realization became a calling for me. It felt like my blueprint was finding its motion. My journey led me across this country, Phoenix, Arizona, Los Angeles, Chicago, where I worked with organizations like Europe United, and co-op careers. These were places where I learned not just the work itself, but the ethos behind it. Head, heart, and hustle. And if you know co-op careers, then you know that mantra well. And eventually I came back home to the neighborhoods that shaped me, Jamaica, Queens, Elmont, Long Island, where rhythm, resilience, and relentless spirit are not metaphors, they are operating systems. From working at CUNI to being on the launch team of Gutman Community College to helping build here to hear and supporting incredible talent across the Bronx, those years taught me what it means to build opportunity at scale. I saw how institutions can change lives when the blueprint is drawn with intention and how systems fall short when the design doesn't center the humanity of the people within them. Every step of my journey, corporate America, the classroom, national nonprofits, higher education, it all brought me closer to the same truth. I care about this work deeply because I've lived the consequences of systems that weren't built with people like me in mind. And I've witnessed the strength of communities that choose to build anyway. And that belief, that conviction shaped by my lived experience is what grounds the work that I now have the privilege to lead. Today, I have the immense honor of serving as a CDNR Foundation president. CDNR is a private investment firm founded more than 40 years ago with a simple but powerful belief to do business the right way by building better and stronger businesses and by extension stronger communities. We operate across the US and Europe investing in companies many of which touch people's daily lives as employees as customers and as suppliers. We invest across health care industrial technology financial and business services. So when I talk about infrastructure, it's not only a metaphor. Our foundation extends that belief into the social sector. Our mission is equity through employment opportunity, making sure that every person, regardless of background, has access to the training, networks, and supports needed to fully participate in our economy. Since 2021, we have proudly committed $41 million to 37 impactful organizations that expand access and employment opportunity in New York and in London. Our approach is holistic. Yes, we provide funding and in a sector that is chronically underresourced, that matters. But we also invest our time, our expertise, and our access to networks. Because when business and community align, we don't just strengthen a system, we expand its capacity to carry far more people into opportunity. And still, I want to be very clear about something. Today is not about CDNR. It's not about our foundation and it's not about me. This work is not about a single firm, a single entity or an individual. And as a former English teacher, I can tell you there is no I in workforce. Today is about you. the collective you, the dedicated and passionate leaders of New York City's workforce ecosystem, the people who show up every day so immigrants and long-established New Yorkers alike can build lives filled with choice and dignity. As our city continues to evolve, one thing remains constant. This community, you are the ones holding the blueprint for economic opportunity in New York. So when I speak to you today, it's from within this ecosystem, not above it or you. We are co-designers of the same blueprint. If we take a cleareyed look at New York City's workforce landscape, recent data from the Center for an Urban Future and the Center for NYC Affairs tell a complicated story. Over the past decade, tech sector employment has grown 64% and labor force participation is at a historic 62.7%. And yet more than 219,000 New Yorkers are still searching for work. Meanwhile, the green economy is projected to grow towards 400,000 jobs by 2040. A once in a generation opportunity to reshape access to communities too often left behind. So the question becomes, if the opportunities are expanding, why are so many people still standing outside the doors of opportunity? Part of the answer lies in the demographics. And here's another truth. Demographics are shifting faster than our systems. With declining birth rates and a shrinking workforce, New York cannot sustain its future unless veterans, people with disabilities, justice impacted New Yorkers, immigrants, and New Yorkers of all ages are part of the blueprint. If we don't redesign the system, the math will redesign it for us. And I'll tell you, not in a way that serves our city well. But the demographics are not the full story. And the answer is not mysterious either. And I'm going to say this loudly and boldly. It is not about the talent. It's about structure and design. The architecture of a system that wasn't built to connect the pipes that matter most. An ecosystem where the interconnections between stakeholder groups still leak at every turn. And while AI is reshaping work, many of the challenges we face are not technological at all. They are about business models, risk tolerance, outdated hiring practices, and systems that move far slower than the people they are meant to serve. That is not a failure of effort. It is a failure of alignment. Because a system can be full of talent and still fail if the pipes aren't connected. That's the blueprint problem we're up against. You know, too often the burden has been placed on talent alone. We tell them, "Be ready. Go get certified. Gain experience." But readiness has never opened a door. Doors often open because of networks and sponsorship. the types of inherited pathways that many communities never get access to even when they've done everything right. Which means talent is not the problem. Access is the problem. Alignment is the problem. Architecture is the problem. And those are the problems that I believe we can solve together. Not by asking people to run faster through systems that weren't built for them, but by redesigning the systems so they finally see and match the full potential of the people they serve. When we make that shift, when we stop asking whether people are ready for opportunity and start asking whether opportunity is ready for them, the entire blueprint changes because access is not merit. Access is infrastructure. Now, before we go any further, I want to ground us in the heart of this work. The video that you're about to see isn't a showcase of programs and institutions. It's a glimpse into the leaders behind them, the personal blueprint that each builder carries. So, with that in mind, I invite you builders to take a look at these builders. At CDNR, we firmly believe that economic opportunity is one of the most powerful levers for change. In 2021, we created the CDNR Foundation with a focused and purposeful mission to advance equity through employment opportunity in the communities where we proudly live and work, New York and London. This year, our talent solution partners helped more than 5,500 New Yorkers secure meaningful and well-paying jobs, resulting in an estimated $198 million increase in their earnings. That's why CDNR is proud to partner with the leaders from whom you're about to hear, builders, all of them, as they reimagine what's possible for our city's workforce. We thank them for their partnership and for their leadership. We provide an incredibly excellent education with incredible faculty that make up our community. My father is the reason why I came to CUNI. My dad was able to give me things that he didn't have growing up as a child. The Puerto Rico allow him to become an engineer. So I wanted to be part of a university that does that every day and is one of the things that brings me the biggest joy in my role as chancellor when I see that happening. There is agency that we all have. If we have intentionality, if we all come together and we prioritize this work, we're going to be able to continue to to make this city the great city that we love and that's what we're here to do. But even a city that serves everybody better. We're a social service organization that is based primarily in the South Bronx and our goal is to provide workforce education and economic opportunity programs for residents and community members. I was born in Kingston, Jamaica. I was born into a family that was quite poor. Um my grandmother the fourth grade education, my grandfather the second grade education. But what they understood is that the way out of poverty for us was through education. I was privileged to get a scholarship to one of the most reputable all boys institution in Kingston, Jamaica. I like to remind the young people that the block that you grow up on should not block your blessings or the zip code that you grew up in should not define your destiny. Remember, seek opportunities leading to opportunities because one day, you never know, you might be the CEO of a nonprofit organization really making a difference in people's lives. This was actually my dream job to be the president of John J. College. I grew up in on Long Island and know of CUNI as being the great equalizer in providing college opportunities for those people who might not otherwise have the opportunity for a college degree. They know and they trust and their families trust that we have their long-term interest in heart and making sure they get the education that we promised that they could get when they came to John J and they came to CUNI. And to me, it's all about I might tear up. Um, it's all about making sure these young people have an opportunity and have the same opportunity that I had to fulfill their dreams. The Alifor Center is the nation's largest and most comprehensive organization dedicated to housing and caring for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender young people. These are young people who have been kicked out of their homes, denied love and acceptance by their families, and thrown out into the streets. Fundamentally, our work is rooted in helping young people overcome the trauma of family rejection and the traumas of street homelessness. And we apply that in every aspect of our work, including in our career and job readiness programs. I come to this work through my own personal journey. I grew up in and out of homelessness, in and out of the foster care system, and knowing firsthand what many of our young people experience. And it's a beautiful journey to be able to give back in the same way that was given to me when I needed it. America on Tech students are from the five burrows of New York City. They are talented, amazing young people who are really interested in gaining technology skills. I grew up in the East New York section of Brooklyn, New York, specifically in Pig House Projects. By default of me being first generation Latina from a lowincome community, I should not be here today. I'm a first generation high school graduate, first generation college graduate, first person in my family to pursue a career in technology, and now a first generation entrepreneur. And for anyone who is listening today, I would say stay the course. Make sure that you stay authentic in a world that wants to silence you and make sure that you stand ten toes on your values and the things that you believe in because that is needed now more than ever. We are the people that we've been waiting for. At CDNR, we're proud to stand alongside these remarkable partners, all of you, who are building a future of work that is inclusive, equitable, and full of opportunity for every New Yorker. The future is ours to build together. Right. I get a little emotional seeing that. Um, what you just saw is a powerful reminder that talent does not appear out of thin air. It grows in context in families, in neighborhoods, and in cultures of resilience. And it grows despite the systems that were never designed with everyone in mind. Seeing those powerful reflections from our esteemed partners brings me back to Wilberforce, Ohio, where I first studied thinkers who challenged how I understood people and systems. I remember learning about Kimberly Krenshaw, who taught us about intersectionality, the idea that people move through the world shaped by multiple identities, each influencing how they are seen and how they experience opportunity. And then there's Belle Hooks, and I'll be honest, her work has shaped me the most deeply. She wrote about the power of love as an ethic, not as an emotion. There's a line she often referenced from the 1957 book by M. Scott Pek. You may have heard of it, The Road Less Traveled. In it, PC defines love as the will to extend oneself for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth. That definition stopped me in my tracks the first time I read it, and it still does because it reframes love not as a sentiment or a soft concept, but as a form of intentional design. In a workforce context, I believe that kind of design looks like policies that remove barriers rather than reinforce them. Programs built around real lives, not idealized schedules. Employers opening doors and creating environments where talent can thrive and funders committing for the long term not just the grant cycle. Satya Nadella the CEO of Microsoft she says that culture is built on empathy and I believe that's true not only for companies but for entire ecosystems because empathy is not the opposite of excellence. Empathy is the engine of excellence. And that's where our blueprint must come from. Not just from data or policy or market trends, but from values, from dignity, from humanity, from the belief that when we design systems around people, systems finally work. Every structure reflects the values of its architects. Every pipeline reflects the priorities of its builders. Every opportunity ecosystem reflects the imagination or the limitation of the people designing it. So as we think about the future of New York City, we cannot separate the technical from the human. Buildings stand because their foundations hold. Systems endure because their values do. And the values we choose now today will determine the blueprint that we hand to the next generation tomorrow. Before I close, I want to return to where where we began this morning. When we said, "I see you." We weren't just acknowledging presence. We were acknowledging possibility. Because the systems we build and the future we build will always reflect who we choose to see. Every breakthrough our city has ever experienced, every reform, every innovation, every expansion of opportunity was not just a policy decision or a budget line. It began with a human choice. Someone believed a different future was possible. Someone dared to sketch a new outline. Someone picked up a pen and drew a new blueprint. And that brings us to this very moment. The future of New York City's workforce ecosystem will not be determined by algorithms or forecasts or automated models. It will be determined by people. People who choose to build systems worthy of the talent in this city. People like you. You are not just program leaders. You are not just policy makers. You are not just funders or advocates or educators. You are designers of access. You are builders of dignity. You are architects of human possibility. Every time you open a doorway, every time you coach an individual, every time you refine a program, challenge a policy, or push for alignment, you are reinforcing the beams of an ecosystem that can now hold more people, more dreams, and more futures. Because every one of us in this room is working from the same blueprint for opportunity. And so, here's the invitation, the charge that I leave with you all today. Stay human in your decisions. Stay courageous in your leadership. Stay imaginative in your design. Do not simply repair what is broken. Build what has never existed. Do not simply react to the moment. Shape the landscape around it. Because the future of New York City is not written in data or trends. It is written in the hands that build, the hearts that uplift, and the minds of the leaders in this room. The future truly is ours to build. and I believe that we will build it together. Thank you. One more time. Good morning everyone. It's great to see you. My name is Greg Morris. I'm the CEO of the New York City Employment and Training Coalition. Thank you. This is 60 seconds and nothing more because we need to get on to the day. But I want to welcome you. I want to say it's great to see you and I want to say you have a job to do. In fact, you've got multiple jobs to do today. And job number one is this. Network, connect, build relationships. Be in the moment. Be we the people. Be the uniting force that you really are. Number two, do us a favor. It is hugely important to say this and to communicate this at this particular moment. There are comment cards outside on the table that ask you how it is that NYC etc can serve you well. Specifically, those comment cards have a thing that says when it goes when it comes to our communications, what should we be talking about? How should we be talking about it? Spend a minute and tell us how we should be doing that and who we should be doing that with. separately. There's another comment card that says if it comes to the transition team and this new mayor, I happen to be a member of the transition team of this new mayor. The reality of that is Oh, I didn't. And as I said yesterday, if you were here, there are 400 team members. There is one that is focused on workforce development. But as I have said repeatedly, as far as I'm concerned, while I am that one, the expectation is that because 300 plus people will be here today and 300 plus people were here tomorrow and we had more than 600 people online yesterday. And I'm telling you this, if we don't hit a thousand today online, I will lose my mind. As far as I'm concerned, if we talk about that whole group, we outnumber the transition team and we will be heard. And by the way, we made every appeal we could imagine, turning every stone we could to try to get the mayor elect in this room. And I was told, we were told they are focused on appointments, they are trying to figure out what it's going to look like. And all I could think was, if you're focused on appointments and you want to know what things should look like, start here. you have a job to do and that is fill out those comment cards and tell us what we need to do. Tell the transition team what they want and I promise you I will communicate that in everything that I have to do it. And last but not least, and I can't say this enough, and I'm going to take a selfie right now with all of you to start the process. And it goes a little something like this. Hey everybody. It goes like this. Oh, come on. It goes like this. As far as I'm concerned, today is not about NYC telling New York City that we are here. It's about everybody in this room and everyone online telling New York City we are here and we will be heard because we get the job done. So, do me a favor. Text your people, email your people, take pictures of this moment, post them online, do your Twitter X thing. If you do that, I don't know if you do the IG thing. Whatever it is, I don't care. Use LinkedIn. I'm obsessed with LinkedIn. In any case, I use it for all the wrong reasons. I post pictures of my cat. They don't know why I do that. It doesn't matter. Max says hi. My cat, my beloved tuxedo. You have a responsibility to tell everybody we are here and we will be heard. And if we miss this chance, if we miss this chance, if we miss this chance, we might not get another one. So do me a favor. Make sure everybody, whether you are in this room or online, make sure everybody you knows is paying attention because we will be heard because we get the job done. Because that's what we do day in and day out. And speaking of getting the job done, I am thrilled to welcome the organizations that I partner with and engage with and have tremendous relationships with for this next panel, which is all about coalitions and all about advocacy and how it is that we all work together. I don't know what that was, but I needed it. I needed it cuz I've had a lot of caffeine already. By midday, I was to be sound asleep at one of the tables downstairs just poked me. I'll get back up. Here's the thing. We're going to talk about organizing and advocacy. And that leads me to my last note, which is this. Less swag, more good. We minimized the giveaways other than the wristbands, which I hope you picked up on the way in. Affordability is workforce policy. And also, we made it like this. When you go out to those tables out there, you're going to see little buckets and you're going to see a list of four organizations that we support. not in the workforce space, but in the partnership space. And you get to decide who it is that you think what we would have spent on your giveaway, what we would have spent on your hoodie, we would have spent on your hat, we would have spent on your tote bag. You can decide where that money should go in support of one of those organizations. And we'll make sure it's proportional. So every chip you put in is related to how much it would have cost us to put some swag on you. And you're saying, "Hey, New York Immigration Coalition. Hey, Legal Assistance Service Group. Hey, City Meals on Wheels. Hey, the fourth one. Hey, the fourth one. Homeless Services United. We support you. We stand with you cuz we work with you. We connect with you. We build with you. We are all about you cuz we stand together. Ladies and gentlemen, speaking of stand together, I now want to introduce you to Anthony Barrows, the executive director of LyftNy. All right. Well, does does anyone know Greg's coffee order? Because I need one of those. Um, okay. I'm I'm going to be super brief because I think what you're here to listen to is the excellent panel that we've got coming up, but we're going to be talking about coalitions. So, you all have heard the old adage, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. And that's what we're going to be talking about. So, um, indulge me in about 90 seconds of a little story from Lyft. So, how many of you were here yesterday or listened in yesterday? So, you heard my inspirational CEO, Michelle Ran Collins, talk about our work, our anti-poverty work, our economic justice work, which is about meeting the needs of people. And we do that by listening to people and asking them what they need and then working to deliver it. And you heard about the direct service side of it, but we also have a policy side of it. And our policy work is centered on three asks, two what's one how. Number one, more cash in famil family's pockets. Number two, all of the things that cash can buy. So, get their basic needs met at low cost or no cost. Food, transportation, housing, and child care. And to do all of those things humanely, to treat people with dignity and respect, to reduce administrative burdens, and to give them the supports that they ask for, not the ones that we think that they need. So that may sound curiously to you very much like Mayor Elect Mani's platform and there's a reason for that which isn't that we coordinated. It's because we took the same approach to developing it. We listened to people asked them what they wanted and then turn that around into a crisp set of asks policy-wise. Now if it were just as easy as aligning with people who have some kind of power to make those things happen, these things would have been done a long time ago. So that begs the question, how do we get what we need? How do we get what our families, what our communities need? And that brings us back to coalition because there's no way to get this done unless we're working together um to acquire and then exercise power in pursuit of our goals. And so that's what our excellent panel is going to come out on stage to talk to us about. So let me welcome to the stage Theres Dailyaly from the United Way of New York State, um Allison Nickerson from Live on New York, and Pascal Leon from the Supportive Housing Network of New York. Thank you. And we're we're holding Scott in reserve. Um so he'll join us about halfway through. All right. Thank you. So one thing that's true about coalitions is that these are political things that we're doing and we know that the political is the personal. So I'd like us to start by just sharing a story of how you got into doing coalitional work. what brought you to this work from a personal perspective? And Pascal, I'm going to start with you. Okay, great. Is my mic on? Can you hear me? Okay. Good morning, everyone. I just want to say I'm so honored to be here. I wish I had half the coffee that Greg did, but um he really brought the energy and so thank you so much for having me. Um as you said it, the personal is always political. Um as a cisgendered uh AfroCaribbean daughter of Haitian immigrants, um I knew that the multiple identities I hold open doors in some spaces and close doors in other spaces. So the personal has always been uh political and so I always say that I was a an an advocate at an early age not by choice but rather by circumstance. Um I came up of the age during the height of the HIV AIDS uh um crisis here in the United States in New York in particular. Um and you know folks may remember that they had the four H's right patients hem hemophiliacs homosexuals and what they called you know sex workers. And um they blamed this group of folks for bringing HIV AIDS into this country, right? And so at a young age, I had to manage stigma, discrimination in the classroom, in the playground, losing friends. My mother was a registered nurse. She couldn't touch her patients. My cousins worked at Red Lobster. They couldn't serve any biscuits. Like it was, you know, ubiquitous. Um and and no one is untouched. And so the FDA, I believe in 1990, had banned blood from these four groups and, you know, labeled them as, you know, bad blood. Um, my mom was an organizer as well. So she was part of this Haitian nurses association and they organized and they worked with this group called the Haitian Enforcement Against Racism that led a march on Brooklyn Bridge. And I don't know folks remember that time in 1990, but I remember my little nine-year-old self was making signs with the Haitian Nurses Association and writing it because I knew exactly what we were fighting for. Um, and so went out there and was marching and demanding justice with 50,000 different stakeholders. And it was beyond just, you know, Haitian identifying people, right? We had faith leaders, we had students, we had lawyers, we had neighbors, co-conspirators, and other allies who were part of us. And it was there where I realized that coalition building is far beyond just shared identity, right? But there's a shared purpose and that type of you know injustice called for that coming together. And so that was my early um indications just of power of seeing people who may not be in the same room together but came together for this moment because justice demanded it. Excellent. Terra Alison, what other you like to jump in next? Okay, great. Um well that was so beautiful. Um mine's not quite as beautiful. I was an only child and I was adopted and so I have felt that I was adopted from Kashmir India and if you're not familiar with it it's pretty war torn area that is kind of under attack between two countries and so I have just felt so privileged that my parents chose to adopt me and you know brought me over to the US and I just have felt it is my duty to give back. So I have done so since I was little. my first uh intro into coalition building. You were all going to laugh. But as an only child, I didn't have any siblings. So, I started a coalition of only children so that we could all talk and I could cuz I didn't have any siblings and I'm like, "What? I'm lonely. My parents are boring." And so, my parents traveled a lot. So, I grew up kind of and this is not a wo for me sad story. This is just building up friends and having that. So, I started that coalition of only children. So really understanding that then going through high school and in college and my first job, you know, really took my career on we get so much farther if we talk to the person to our left and to our right and and that wasn't a political comment, but that does also work here too, but it was that was my intro. Awesome. Alison, sure. I'm ask also, can you hear me? Yes. Okay. So I think for me, I grew up in a a liberal Protestant household. And so I was raised in a tradition where we were constantly doing types of service. And so when I went to college, I was um in my undergrad, I served I was a rape crisis hotline worker. And we also did a lot of work in high schools. And it was it was in Western Massachusetts. And the we would have once a month uh case work for year for three years. And every month different organizations would come to the table. And there were certain things in Western Mass that needed to change. And it was clear how quickly it moved the needle when everyone was at the table. So the hospitals, the social work team, if it was an academic issue, the academic uh colleagues and so that gave me an indication when I went to social work school like, oh, people have to be all working together. And so I think throughout my career that has has been what I have seen over and over and over again that we are just simply stronger if we work together and can recognize where our blind spots are because everyone has blind spots no matter who you are and where you live and where you come from. And so understanding different perspectives and being able to wrap that up in a bow and and work on it um through policy and advocacy is really powerful. Fantastic. Um, I wasn't intending to answer this question, but it just feels unfair to expose all of your backtories. So, I will say quickly that my first exposure to coalition building and to making political asks was as a teenager. So, I was in the foster care system um in Massachusetts and as a teen um got exposed to some opportunities to tell leaders, tell decision makers what it was that we needed from the system in order to be well and to thrive. um and really parlayed that opportunity to talk to the commissioner of DSS and to state legislators about the fact that we needed normal rules to be able to sleep over at our friends houses to be able to take field trips um into an entire career that led from that. So um thank you all for sharing um and I felt moved to as well. U but that leads us to our second question which is about why do coalitional work? Why collaborate? Um, and so when you're collaborating across organizations especially, um, it's it's crucial to think about how we can and must shape the decisions of state and local and federal government. And so I'm curious to hear from each of you, um, from your experience working in coalition, where does that value lie? How have you been able to um, pull some of those levers? Yeah, go ahead. Oh, okay. Great. Great. H, you go. You go. You go. Not everyone allows. All right. Well, I'm Yeah, I'm happy to start. And so, you know, I will say, so I'm in the supportive housing uh space, and anyone who's kind of paying attention, um this federal government is insistent on taking away poor people's housing. Um and so, we are really in the thick of it right now. And I would say in my two decades of policy and systems change and organizing work, I have never felt in deeper coalition than I have than I am right now. Right. Um, I think what makes this moment, you know, so striking is not just the scale of the threat. You know, 170,000 people nationwide are at risk of losing their housing. In New York State, that's over 15,000 people as early as February 1st. Um, and that's 14,000 households, right? So, it's not just the scale of what's at stake, but then it's also the scale of the alignment that I'm I'm experiencing. I'm on the calls every single day with national partners, statewide partners, local, rural, suburban, um you know, everyone is seeing themselves in this fight. And I think what makes um coalitions, this coalition, I think, you know, it's it's not just symbolic, right? We're all here because there's a shared self-interest, but there's also shared values. And I believe that for coalitions to work, every stakehold has to see themselves in the fight, right? And when they do that, that's when they they lean in. You know, housing touches every part of civic life, right? Employers need stable workforce. Communities need like stable environments, right? People to be working and purchasing goods. Um uh you know, governments, you know, invest in housing. Uh they deeply subsidize housing at the state, federal and local level. And also banks, right, and lenders, they invest in and underwrite housing as well. So there is it's important that our messaging reaches across broad constituencies because again that's what allows them to really um lean in. Um and I I believe that the bigger tent that we build builds bigger power. Um and we get over the turf issues that come sometimes with coalitions if we're being real about it. Um and I I think we create the space for more ingenuity because this is what this moment demands of us. And I would just say New York has really been a national leader on this because of you know seeing the power of our collective force really and since we heard in March right there was whispers of cutting HUD and cutting funding to to affordable housing. We showed up in a matter of days. 500 se 5 to 700 I don't know exact number showed up on the steps of city hall and since then we've been going and our Republican leaders in Long Island congressional members actually reached out to her. No other state has done that and it's because of the the really strong coalition you know whether it's aging economic development all of us coming together understanding that housing is such a basic and foundational human right. So, you know, I'm really enthused. You know, we have a long road to go, but I'm very encouraged by this moment. I I agree and I want to just echo your points that are so beautifully said. It is to fight fire. You must have a bigger fire. Let's just make that clear. So, we need to be united. Every single organization needs to stand up for what's happening now. We need to be united. We need to work together because that is the only way we are going to get through whatever the federal government comes at us with over the next three years. Right? So, we need to work together now. I think and and if you know me or we've worked together, you know that I'm always trying to bring in transportation, always trying to bring in the business council. Uh shout out to Heather Bretti who Mulligan who I think is amazing. I bring the business council into a thousand things. Everybody should be listening. Everybody should be working together. And a critical example of this is I do a lot of federal legislation work and I met with one of the committees that was unhappy with advocates. They say everybody just complains. No one offers solutions. So I said, "Okay, give me two days." Went out to a number of organizations, got their opinion. We got a letter. We wrote the letter with a recommendation. Problem problem was solved in that case. Right. So that was something that was going to have a huge impact on the workforce sector with WEOA, which is the work Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act, but it only worked because we were able to get everybody on the same page very quickly. So it's knowing your network, thinking outside of your network, building that coalition, and if there's an organization where you're like, "Oh, they haven't been involved." Pull them in because they should care. They don't have a choice not to in this present day. Mhm. If we've been watching the American Revolution special, um, we're reminded of that slogan, join or die. And, and that feels particularly relevant in this moment. Truly, I just want to say I watched that, too. I was worried we weren't going to win. I was like, I think we got a Oh no, my mics went. The guy's going to be so mad. Um, but yeah, I'm like, oh crap, how does this end? I guess the question is you could say maybe we didn't win, but still an open question. Still an open question, but yes, that was fabulous. Allison, how about you? I think so. Your question was about, you know, why this work? I think that for me and for the work that we do at Live On, so much of it, so much of it is about supporting the people who are doing the work. So, I've been on, you know, like I'm sure you all get asked to be on advisory boards. This is like my own like hill I'll die on where where it's like a lot of really wonderful people and it's us and often it's like I'm going to stick my foot in my mouth. Often it's like a government entity will say you have to join this advi you have to form this advisory board. There's no money. There's no staff. There's no time for lobbying. There's no you know like and it and it it is crushing. It is crushing to have really great ideas in the room with no ability to move the needle because everybody has a day job. So I think of our work as coalition coalition work is representing the people who are working in community right like you all you know what needs to happen. It's not like these are issues of humanity and community things that we that um people know they need housing, food, right? Like these are jobs. These are very basic human needs. And the coalition's job is to raise the flame and provide the platform and foundation through which we can lobby jointly. We can share resources resources jointly. And there's no more important time than as as we've just been saying as what is happening now so that the work of the provider can be focused on their community and they can weigh in and tell us what's needed and we can have the ability to make those changes and to push for what's needed. So I feel like it's like a conduit. Um yeah can say one thing please. Okay. Allison's point is so perfect and I want you to to take away what she said. people who are making the decisions that are affecting frontline workers and the people who are doing the work are not the ones that are drafting the laws and that has got to change. The people who are doing the work need to have an opinion. They need to have an influence on how that the laws and the decisions that are affecting them are being drafted and changed. Excellent. So, I think this is raising an issue that leads right into our next question. So issue number one, um often times the reasons that coalitions emerge is because people's needs aren't being met by the public sector. And reason number two is that to solve those issues um requires overcoming structural barriers, the way that these systems are built, there's barriers baked in. And so I'm going to start with you to raise on this one. Okay. um particularly because you live in a kind of meta coalition organizing United Ways themselves which are doing coalitional work. So so talk to us about some of the barriers that you faced and what you've done to try to overcome them. Okay. Um so we have 32 United Ways in New York and I talk to all of them what feels like every day. Um and shout out to Grace Bonia, the United Way of New York City president. She is just so wonderful. So she deserves all the flowers. Um, so, okay, each part of New York State has its own issues, right? And I I might have some United Ways that work really great with their county or their state or the federal government, some that do not. So, one challenge is that not enough of the state agencies and local agencies talk to each other, and that is a problem. The system was not built for them to communicate smoothly, and it is crumbling. So working with the state agencies collectively is part of my role is saying okay Shiakaco County is going through this Buffalo is going through this Rochester going through this but New York City this is a problem. So the state so one of the barriers is that the state agencies do not talk the data systems are not reliable and they're not in sync and then there is not enough flexible spending that is allowed. So these are some of the issues that we're dealing with. How I have addressed them. Oh god, I wish. Um I will say two things. One, I have been working with Department of Health on um the 11:15 medical waiver. And if you're not familiar with that, that is about a successful as burnt popcorn right now. And and it is and we're really trying to look and say where are the pieces crumbling, right? And where are the systems not talking to each other? No, really. It's a mess. I'm telling you. Yes. And the smell, just like popcorn, it's like, so, so I would say that's something that we're working out, right? And we don't have a lot of time because we got to spend that money and we got to help the people, right? So working out that I would also say that a lot of the state agencies come to me and say, "We're having a very specific problem. Can you talk to other agencies on our behalf?" And that has been something we have done too. Um we've worked out a number of issues um relating to work requirements as well as income disregard issues um which is a wonderful opportunity that NIATE which is here present in the room had passed a couple years ago. Also working on and last but not least really looking at the communication between multiple sides. often United Way because we are bipartisan is responsible for negotiating between the parties and then presenting ideas and we are that is something we take very seriously and we are doing Pascal maybe I can toss this to you. Yeah. No, so many thoughts on the waiver. Um, you know, I survived district, right? And so like this next iteration, you know, everything she said is just so spot on, right? And I think, you know, the value and the purpose, I think, of of coalitions is that, you know, when we come together, we are able we we see the people's full humanity, right? We go to our state agencies that see people in pieces. People don't come in pieces, right? And so when you center people in their full humanity, our work is to make it visible for these state agencies. Right? I'm in the world of housing, but housing deals with aging. It deals with economic, you know, opportunities. It deals with, you know, folks falling in love and have making families, but those are separate pathlanes for our housing. I mean, for our state and city agencies, they're seeing them as distinct pieces. So the way the work that we do is breaking down those silos. But one thing I want to say just even among our our coalitions is that we love to sometimes to to be in love with the problem, right? We love to just like h you know these these systems, they don't talk to each other. How many times you know an agency asks me to talk to another agency which is like down the hall from them, right? But we also have to dismantle silos in our own coalitions as well. Uh we have to model what we're trying to ask for, right? And so, you know, while we're working to dismantle those silos at the, you know, government level, it's important that we look internally among coalitions and re recognize that there is overlap. You know, we have to have that intersectional lens uh to our work. And again, I think bringing that and making that visible to government is important. Indeed. Any thoughts from you, Allison? I I mean, I comp I agree with the the panel the my colleagues. I think that um I think that I have a lot of thoughts. I think that um yeah there's there can be a lot of um like territory and a lot of things that that have historically stopped us from working together and that that is like freaking manufactured, right? like that is purposeful and drives um all of us in all of our work. Like and again like for people who work with people in community that is obvious like like you know people are whole are whole and so presenting that option and trying to connect with each other through the work and through the policy work should be like the number one role coordination. Yes. Yes. Um okay so um I'm going to make a note to the audience. So, you've heard from four people here that are working in the civic sector in the nonprofit sector. Um, we've mentioned a lot about the public sector, but there's no public sector person yet on stage to talk about that experience. So, at this point, what I'd like to do is have the door open and to have Scott French, the administrator of HA, walk through. Um, very dramatic. very dramatic because we're in coalition on stage too. Um, and what we want to hear from you about is the experience of coalitional work within government. Sure. So, I think two different things I want to talk about, right? I think I would be remiss and as as Pascal mentioned, right, at the federal level right now, uh, there are a variety of policies that are really focused on undoing the social safety net, right? And at HRA, our whole purpose is to keep the social safety net going so that people who do need supports can access it. Um, and so whether it's what's currently happening with SNAP, what's about to happen with Medicaid, the work around housing, or all of the other things we're hearing. Um, that is sort of a real challenge. What I can say is as it relates to SNAP, what I think um it has sort of galvanized is it's really I think um coalesed coalitions between the city, the state and other organizations very quickly and allowed us I think to get over the barriers that kind of can be in place at times and so you know I think me being here is one of those right often times HR isn't thought of in the space of workforce development wea uh right it's usually like HS programs are over here and then the workforce development field is here and I can say in the last you know several months that has really broken down whether being invited here lots of work and conversations going on with the workforce development board those in that space um and a collective like what can we do together to support people so that they keep their benefits and I think that is like the greatest example of taking a very difficult time to sort of cut through everything and get to a coalition where everyone is thinking like okay what can I bring to this what can I bring to this because no one organization no one agency can do it all they shouldn't do it all and so that I think is a space in which stuff is really working and we are all aligned that's not always how it works so you know I think also I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that you know in normal course there can oftenimes I think be a challenge where regulation meets operations and service. And there can be a really difficult uh disconnect at times when policy doesn't connect to practice as simply as it should. And so at the city level often times, right, I'm tasked with taking state regulations or federal regulations and then turning into a program. Um, and I think, you know, uh, everyone here can probably speak to at times there are bureaucratic hurdles that get in the way of, you know, um, it would be so easy if you did this and sometimes from a city perspective, right? Uh, it takes us a little longer to get there, but I think, you know, being able to talk about it openly in a space like this is really important, right? being able to acknowledge that like from a city perspective, there are times where it's really challenging to work with me, right? And my job is to keep on coming to the table, right, and listening and getting the feedback from, you know, coalitions like this. Um, and then looking to see how we can improve things. And I think there have been real spaces where, you know, it might have taken a little bit longer than we wanted, but we all we all got to the same place. And so I can just say for myself and for Commissioner Park at the Department of Social Services, right, our goal is always we will show up at the table even if we may have slightly different perspectives because we all need to understand at the end of the day our goals are the same. Indeed. And I think, you know, one thing that I try to remind some of my colleagues who've never worked in the public sector is that people go into jobs like yours because they believe in the mission of the agency and they want to deliver um the services to New Yorkers and they want them to be excellent and you're working under constraints and it is our job as folks on the outside to help give you a push when you need it, to give you advice when you need it, um but not to presume ill will. Um and I think that's crucial. Okay. So, um, for this one, I'm going to start with you, Allison. Um, but we've been hearing a lot over the last day plus about plumbing, about the pipes behind our systems and our politics. Um, and we've been debating u maybe with different perspectives about whether we should be continuing to patch those pipes or creating blueprints to replplum the house. Um, and so what I really want to hear is about disconnection. Where are there some pipes that are going the wrong way? um and and those things being the things that keep us disconnected and siloed. Where have you had experience with that? I think two main things come to mind. The first is that we cannot really make transformational change without incremental change happening at the same time. So we can't expect that. So Livon represents all the community services for older people in the city and state. You know, we we cannot expect that we're going to have a radical change in how we think about age and aging and how to support people in their communities without making sure that the NORC or the Meals on Wheels program actually has the money that it needs from the council or the city to run vans. Like it doesn't happen. You cannot have the loftiest goals in the world without fixing the pipes. And the pipes need to be fixed because this, you know, I I the the systems that exist were set up in a certain time for a very specific reason. And so we need to really look at what needs to happen and how to support people so that they can support themselves, their neighbors, their families, right, in the best way that is most appropriate for them or and that they want, right? Not that we need to decide that that they want. So I think like looking at incremental and transformational change at the same time is really important and that's the power paradox right both things can be true at the same time. The second is that the reality is that there's only so much attention that people have in their brains like there's only so much work that our government partners and our foundational partners and our coalition partners can keep in their head. So it is it behooves us to be aligned in what needs to happen. And so taking those incremental changes like we do a lot of work I think all of us do a lot of work with the just pay work that HSC is leading um together with NYCTC right so making sure that people have um adequate salaries so they don't age into poverty is something that is a core value of live on New York so making sure that that we are aligned with that that our government partners are aligned with that um because it's so easy to get fractured at every moment of the journey. So I think in addition to fixing the pipes, making sure the plumbing is heading in the right direction, that we actually have clean water on the other side, we need to make sure that we know like who actually needs the water because there's there's like many different points in there. But I think um if I could just underscore like the my last point is which I'm not saying very clearly is that we need to align what we're saying on very core things because there's only so much attention and our we cannot expect our government partners to pay attention to all of it if we are completely saying different things constantly. It's not fair. It's not fair to them. They can't hold all of those things at once. And especially for the incoming administration, the reality is that they already have they already have priorities. They also have to make sure that when the federal government starts to dismantle things like SNAP and housing, that they can fill those things in. So we need to as as people on the ground, as people in policy, people running coalitions, we need to make sure that we understand every level of which pipe that we want to fix so that we can um raise that to a higher level. Indeed. So to not torture the metaphor too much with the pipes, like we need to keep patching the leaks because people rely on this for their drinking water and to water their gardens. Um but that doesn't mean we can't walk and chew gum at the same time while reimagining what these pipes might look like at a moment where we might have the political will and resources to replace them. Awesome. Um Pascal. Yeah. And and to that point, you know, I I when we do systems change work, I hear folks like we should burn it all down, right, and start over. The last and the least among us are the ones who are going to get hurt. Yes. And sometimes it is evolution and it can't be revolution. I want revolution in my heart every day. But I know that people who are farthest on the margins will be the ones that are hurt, right? And that's where is you know that's how we get free when we work from the margins. And I just want to get to the comment before about like you know the the tugof-wall the push and pull with government. I call that healthy tension. At the end of the day I'm an advocate. I don't work for Scott, you know, like but I have a healthy tension of relationship and I wouldn't be doing my job representing 200 nonprofits, you know, who provide and develop and uh and operate supportive housing as well as about 200 uh affiliated and corporate members. If I just went to these meetings like, you know what, I get it. I know it's hard. The pipes are messed up. No. Um and and especi So again, I wouldn't be doing my job. So it's about getting in right relationship with our partners and understanding that we are all navigating systems that we didn't create. But at the same time, if we operate as they're designed, we are complicit in the outcomes. So we can't be complaining. And so that is our job. I'm the complainer and chief when it comes to my job. And Scott knows that. And I understand that he is looking at federal, state, and city rags. But I'm still going to come to you in the fact that in supportive housing right now we make it too difficult for people to get into housing. We have, you know, over 64,000 supportive housing units, about 5,000 development across the state. It's in every single county, but we have 18 different programs. We have 50 eligibility criteria run by nine different government agencies that don't necessarily talk to each other. I can't keep beating this drum that it's not working. I want to be at the table to co-cre co-create especially with the people who are most impacted to redesign that system. We have to make it easier, flatter for people to get into housing. Indeed. And and that coalition implies the nonprofits and the advocates, but also the community members and also the government agencies being together collaborating on imagining that new future. Terres, what's your thoughts here? Yes. Um, I'll be quick, I promise. I just have to say I view United Way's role in making all of your work possible because it is our job because nothing is possible for any human being if they don't have a roof over their head, clothes on their body, food in their stomachs. Right? So that's how I view United Ways role in this. I have 32 United Ways that need to wake up every day and make sure that in their communities the individuals are clothed, homed, have adequate food, access to health insurance, access to jobs and pathways that they can partake in. So you know we released an Alice report which is asset limited income constrained employed report and it is essentially telling how this how New Yorkers are it it is a a national thing but I'm focusing on New York 48% of the households in New York are not able to b meet basic needs right they are not able to function and that's not even counting Wi-Fi I just want to let you know that's not counting Wi-Fi which is considered a luxury So, I view my role in this as I need to make sure New Yorkers can live and I make sure that New Yorkers can New York and and making it possible for them to partake in all of the wonderful programs and opportunities. Awesome. Um, Scott, I'm going to invite you to respond to this pipes question before we move on to our lightning round to close us out. Sure. So um uh I think everything that everyone said here is very important and it is important as Pascal said for folks right to come to me and say like I understand but also right and so um that is something you know it is my job to do two things at once. One is to make sure the three million people in New York City a day who need the services and programs that I run get the services and programs that I run. Right. So, right, as you said, we can't burn it all down because people need stuff every day. But I also need to make sure that I'm paying real attention, especially the income I'm getting from the communities, whether it's impacted individuals, coalitions, CBOS who are working with us to hear when they repeatedly say this is a problem. So, just short example, right? um you know as it relates to homelessness prevention and housing services at HA DSS all of that was very dispersed for a variety of reasons for quite some time right and understanding and listening to the community that we had to try to make things easier right we just recently reorganized our structure so that all homeless prevention programs are together so that they work together they can leverage what's going on similarly on the housing services side all housing has been brought together because it was desperate some stuff was in DHS, some such was HRA, some stuff was in DSS, um, which meant inefficiency, right? So, while I can't change everything at once, what I can do is bring all of that together. There's one chief housing services officer who is responsible for making sure all of that stuff is working together and identifying the ways in which we start breaking down the steps, the barriers and other types of things. So, you know, those are things that we have to be doing at the same time to sort of meet up like fix the pipes but also like rebuild the infrastructure. Fantastic. Um, 10 seconds a piece, lightning round question, first 100 days. What does the Mani administration need to do to support the critical work of coalitions? And we'll start with you, Scott, and come back to me. Sure. I think um the Mandani administration I think through their campaign and the transition that they're currently going through I think has shown that they are very much committed to coalition building. We have several members of the transition committee on this stage with us. Greg probably people in the audience and I think that that is a testament to the fact that they brought 400 people in from a variety of different communities, organizations, um issue areas together to really work on this. So to me that indicates you know really leading from a coalition in a very big table approach. Listen listen deeply listen consistently. Listen with transparency with accountability with humility. Um and listen to the people closest to the problem. They are closest to the solution. I totally agree. Yes. Um I think ask listen and act with transparency. Awesome. I love that. Um, okay. Uh, I would say one thing I they already have done such a great job in having Grace Bonia as the co-chair of the transition team. So, it already they've already extended an arm out. So, what I want to see is more of that. I want them to go to the people who oppose them in their camp in the campaign. I want them to work together. I want to prove the haters wrong and I want them to do that through clear and decisive work while also protecting the people who have stood by them and are working with them because that is a huge part too. Indeed. And I'll end us by saying that I want them to prove to New York that government when run well delivers for the people. Yes. All right. Um let let's give a hand to the uh panel one last time. Thank you everyone. Hello everyone. I'm Hannah Weintock, senior director of workforce development at LaGuardia Community College and NYC board member. The next session couldn't be more timely. Across the country, federal uncertainty is reshaping budgets, timelines, expectations, and states are moving quickly to innovate, experiment, to fill the gaps. New York is no exception. And today's conversation asks, how do we navigate this moment in a way that protects opportunity and expands it? We have an extraordinary group with us. People who understand this challenge from inside government, from research institutions, and from organizations building solutions on the ground. Please welcome our moderator, Stacy Woodruff of the Woodruff Group and speakers Brent Parton of Careerwise, Rachel Lipson of Harvard Kennedy School, and Katie Gstiggy of Goodwill Industries New York Northern New Jersey for the tipping point, federal uncertainty, state innovation, lasting opportunity. Good morning everyone. Morning. How do we feel on day two? Tired. Tired. Tired. Energized. Um, revved up. Are we ready to talk? federal, state, local workforce. Yes. Yes. Yes. Great. Well, to to say that we are operating in a period of uncertainty is an understatement right now. We have seen shifts at the federal level that have included rerouting or axing funding streams or offices. And these shifts don't just hit the federal level. they reverberate through to states, localities, to philanthropy, and also the organizations that are on the ground doing this work. I'm sure many of you have stories. Um, hopefully not a lot of horror stories, but definitely stories that you could tell. Um, you know, the reactions to these shifts have really run the gamut and I'm sure we will continue to see it. We have seen states for example states and in philanthropy and localities doubling down and kind of filling those gaps where populations or programs have been essentially abandoned. We have seen some temporary filling of gaps but without a lot of uncert with uncertainty about how long that will last. We've seen some kind of holding steady and then we've also seen retreats. Um, again, I I know that people in this room can probably tell some of those stories and and are in the middle of of coping with them. So, I do want to say though, as as unsettling as those shifts can be, they really can serve as a reminder um to help us step back and to think about the efficacy of our long-standing ways of doing business. um where for example have we had to kind of contort our systems and our programs just to meet the objectives of a funding stream that is providing diminishing returns and is that something a place that we really want to go back to? Um, are there puzzle pieces that we are patching together with with glue and tape and other, you know, uh, uh, string ties in order to create programs? And at the end of the day, they're not really adding up to the sum of their parts. Um, again, stories that many of you can tell um, in your own lives. And you know, where have states and localities really stepped up to lessen some of those contortions and to build approaches to talent development that could and should be adapted elsewhere. Um, I today get to share a stage with a a a group of three workforce champions, Rachel, Brent, and Katie. and they have collectively very deep experience uh and expertise across federal, state and local workforce systems. They have done work to inform and administer workforce policies to research and analyze what does and doesn't work in workforce and also to make sense of the various funding sources and priorities and inputs as leaders of workforce organizations. So, I think we're going to have a a fun I I was saying like this conversation the conversation we have today could be completely to uh different if we did it tomorrow. Um and so we were going to see where this goes. But I think you'll walk away with some some good insights kind of thinking across federal, state, local, um and how some of these shifts are maybe giving us a chance to step back and and think a bit. But to get us started, so I want to jump right into um a recent report that Rachel authored. It was released over the summer called America's missing productivity strategy, an R&D approach to workforce development. Please check it out if you haven't uh read it yet. And uh we were joking. and I said I think we could just do a dramatic reading of some passages from that report. Um to say that it struck a nerve or a few nerves as I was reading it and rereading it really saying yes um is is another understatement. So Rachel, there's a term that we I think will resonate here um that you use low resource low efficacy equilibrium in this report. Um, so can you talk a bit about what that means and how do low res or how do limited resources lead to weak outcomes? Happy to. Um, first of all, thanks for having me. It's great to be in New York. I'm from the area. Um, so always great to be back in New York City, especially this time of year. Um, maybe I'll uh zoom out a little bit first and give some context um for those who haven't had the chance to read the paper yet. Um, one of the things that I start by laying out is um, I think in the US we actually ask the workforce development system to do a lot of things to solve a lot of really hard social problems actually like we're like how do we solve this problem of out of school um, out of work youth? How do we uh, address uh, adults who have been dislocated because of trade? How do we think about long-term unemployed adults? There's a lot those are some pretty big and hard problems um and important ones for sure. Um but sometimes it seems like job training is kind of said everyone is just like oh here's the answer. Job training job training job training to these really hard big structural problems. But the other thing I think that has happened because of the because of that framing is that federal policy makers especially but policy makers in some ways um across the board basically have start thought about workforce development as an anti-poverty strategy. And what that means is that they think about it as kind of like something that's over here for people who are struggling, for people who are disadvantaged. It's not for me, it's not for my kids. Um, it's for other people. And that's where this low resource, low efficacy equilibrium comes in. So basically what we've seen over the last few decades is that the US workforce development system has been like consistently structurally underfunded. We're um almost last in OCD of other advanced um economies in terms of what we spend on what you call um active labor market policies. These are the things like job training and employment services that help support people connecting to jobs. Um the US looks very uh we spent almost no money compared to our peers. um uh and the amount that we've spent has actually been declining over time on a per capita basis um on the federal level. Um and so what I think has happened and I I should say I don't claim um I shouldn't claim credit for that term. I stole it uh and cite it in the paper from Harry Holtzer who's a economist and was the chief uh chief economist at the US Department of Labor back in the day. um he he came up with the idea but uh I build it out in some more detail which is like we have these low levels of funding it becomes very fragmented in terms of what we spend money on. Um say if we have $2,000 in a job training voucher from the workforce innovation and opportunity act system and we know that the programs at work cost a lot more than $2,000 per head. What we're asking is basically like we're almost like doomed to to fail, right? You repeat the system where uh underfunded, fragmented, the results look pretty mixed. The federal the evaluations, research evaluations, I'd say of federally funded uh workforce development have been not uh not terrible but not overwhelmingly positive. And then you get into this cycle where it becomes harder for um policy makers to then justify putting more money into what they perceive to be a a failing system and and the cycle the cycle repeats. So I guess what I argue in this paper and one of the things I'm thinking about right now is like how could you completely break out of that paradigm and that broken cycle. Um, and the idea that I throw out there is thinking about, uh, research and development in the United States, uh, which instead of being viewed as, um, a social service or welfare or anti-poverty is historically been viewed as very key to US competitiveness, to US productivity growth, to our national security. Uh, and unlike workforce development, which I said we rank almost last on our spending, we've we lead the world in our R&D investments, um, it's viewed as a public good. It's viewed as spending that doesn't just benefit the direct recipient of the funding, but actually benefits the economy at large. Um, and so I'm I throw out some ideas of what would that actually look like. It's not just a reframing, but it's a it's a rethinking of the the whole tools of how we do business. Um, so I'm excited to dive into that deeper and and to hear the thoughts of my panelists who have lots of experience in the field. Um, both seeing the constraints and the opportunities of how the current system works. Thank you, Rachel. And I I think um with that that base laid, you know, Brent and Katie, um given your roles right now, um it would be good if you could each share just a moment or an experience that has sharpened that understanding of the the catch 22 that we're in where we have this cycle of underinvestment leading to weak results and and justifying more underinvestment. What has that looked like in your in your work? Uh, well, the it doesn't look good. and and and well and let me just build a little bit on what Rachel's saying because I think it helps get us out of the trap to some extent which is even when the workforce system a lot of reauthorizations over several decades going back to 1963 the manpower defense act which was what wea originally was the it made some pretty big assumptions about what the workforce systems role would be in the labor market that have really changed since the late 1960s like some other things. The the two big ones that stick in my mind is when you the workforce system has a lot of missions, a lot of things it tries to accomplish, but it's really I always distilled it down during my time leading the Employment and Train Administration, two missions. It's a firefighter and a construction worker. The workforce system gets investment, significant investment when things are on fire, the pandemic, the great recession. These are just most recent examples. And and what you end up with is pouring money under a brittle infrastructure. Then when things aren't on fire, that's when the kind of more social mission comes in. But the workforce system has a universalist setting in that anybody could lose their job. Anybody could walk in and access employment services. Even folks during the administration I served in who were not citizens. The point being that the system has these two phases and and I think we have to get precise about what are we trying to kind of tackle in terms of the weakness of it. And and I would say you need to have these countercyclical or even economic disasterbased systems that are there to serve people well on their worst days. And that's at the end of the day with the workforce system. And the work you all do is you're at the end of the day first there for people on their worst days. The day they lose the job, the day that they can't find that opportunity, that next leg up. In many parts of the country, the plant is closing. That's so much of what our workforce system is invested in to do because it has assumed back to the 1960s that the social mission, how you bring people who are in lowincome, low-wage jobs, people who have been long-term unemployed into something that is already out there. And that already out there used to be really highquality post-secary education that if you could get through, you were pretty much guaranteed a good job and a career. Show me where that's the case now as a guarantee. It assumed a high density unionization in the labor market. Labor unions ensured that you didn't even have to have a college degree to be able to get a good job. And the workforces in the 1960s also assumed that employers were actively invested in jointly investing in workforce development. The size of joint training programs back in the 1960s7s versus what happened in the 80s90s today is vastly different. So the workforce system was never designed to deliver the quality stuff. Let me just be very blunt about that. It was always there to be an access point and a support point to what was working in the labor market. We are at a very different moment right now. And I think the mission of the workforce system, which makes Rachel's work incredibly timely, is now what are we trying to build to create affordable pathways to good jobs and careers in this labor market in this moment? And so when Congress would constantly put squeezing metrics across titles of programs because before they wanted to consolidate everything, there was a interest in putting very tight short-term transactional metrics on the system. They were measure, measure, measure. It narrowed and narrowed and narrowed the tightness of the scope of what that system was supposed to do. Now it's all that doesn't work. Let's blow it all up, consolidate it, and start from scratch. So maybe that's the title of the session. It's a moment of uncertainty, but but I think that's the space this conversation needs to start getting into. Not does the workforce system work. It's a funding source. It's a platform, but I pressure us to keep in mind firefighter, but that builder mission, that R&D alignment, that's where I think we have a lot of work to do as a field and as a country and as a system to really recognize how do we change those preconditions. The workforce system is supposed to be able to offer access to affordable post-secondary education that leads to mobility, joint investment between public and private sector and the development of the talent of the future and that first leg up for young people in our labor market. Those are things that I think we should be really focused on building in this kind of R&D mindset. Great. Go ahead. Um let me jump in with two um ideas that I had that are wildly on the tactical compared to the strategic here. Um and so where's that catch22 really show up? Um I want to point out an article that came out in the times about Equifax which I think most of you use or the work number. They are raising prices because they realize that everyone's going to need to in the country get their Medicaid and their SNAP um validations. So where is the system to support more money for the Equifax or where is you know the city negotiating with Equifax instead each one of you will have to pay more. So that's a catch 22. Suddenly they're going to say you're not doing as well because you're spending more money on rent on your health insurance and on Equifax. Okay let's let's just like that's a barrier that could be completely removed. as far as I'm concerned, the city of New York should go in and do that negotiating for us rather than passing it down. Um, or you know, come up with an actual do system that would do it instead of a private industry. But that anyway, so the other catch22 might be something um like I actually think that HA and Scott French was just out here in their new PACE contract did a really good job of acknowledging the tears which is you know uh more rapid attachment um more investment with some training and then an individual who might have mental health barriers or uh currently just had a new baby or you know something else is going on in their lives where they need more at that time. So again, the catch22 is exactly what these guys are talking about, which is that treating everyone exactly the same. So I want to applaud the new PACE contract for showing those tiers, but what I want to encourage is different levels of time, patience, and payment that will correspond with those. Thank you, Brent. I want to go back to your work at at ETA and continuing now with career-wise around apprenticeship and recognizing that when we think about some of the strategies being supported at the federal level, apprenticeship, even if the definition is maybe getting a little contorted or stretched is is uh you know apprenticeship is has I think some currency there. And so um if you can talk a little bit about the ways in which states have been able to build capacity what you've seen across uh across the country so build capacity in order to scale apprenticeships um what has been working and are there things that states need to do? I think um many of you in this room know that apprenticeship is also a a key focus for the for the current Adams administration and um I' you know I've I've also kind of wondered what's that interaction with city if it's not really working well with state but anyway we'll we can maybe get to that point but sure no and and apprentichip has not completely scaled up so whoever does have the answer out there should let us know but I I think that the a couple of things about this and welcome my colleagues to jump in. the apprenticeship it's as we many of us in this room know it there there's kind of usually two conversations you need to have obviously strong tradition in the building construction trades that infrastructure is there to scale up with demand as it happens um I think obviously there's New York City is a leader with the apprentichip readiness collective to actually make sure that there's clear equitable pathways into that work although that's always unfinished business let's just be honest about that given looking at the numbers And then there's the world of the kind of growing non-traditional space which is basically every other industry sector and and and just the core thing is that there is not the same infrastructure to scale apprenticeship programs in these non-traditional fields where there's not a strong tradition whether that's healthcare manufacturing um information technology financial services wherever it might be and so states I think that's their enterprise that's where a lot of the federal dollars have gone is to be able to support this non-traditional infrastructure to grow there. I think we have to have some empathy for the fact that apprentichip is a major commitment and investment on behalf of public and private sector partners involved. So it takes time and it takes investment to to make that happen. I think to put bluntly the the keys to how we're going to scale it though is we don't need to build a brand new infrastructure. The states that have been successful at this and we lead a coalition at Career-Wise called the Education to Apprentichip Accelerator. It's a coalition of 10 states, industry and labor organizations that are trying to attack this is they've integrated apprentichip into their mainline education systems. And I think you get out of this idea that apprentichip is some different form of education and training. At the end of the day, my view, it's a better way to do post-secary. Not all those students are throwing frisbes on the lawn and no one should have to work a lowwage job or drop out of the labor market to get training and skills. And so at the end of the day, how we look at our community colleges, how we look at our career teched programs and our high schools, New York City, where we work here, the the entire partnership we have with New York City public schools for the future ready initiative is that example of that type of infrastructure that gives you a platform to scale. So I would just say integration with education systems because it improves those education outcomes and the economic outcomes of students is the key and where states are engineering in a lot of different ways. And I think there's pockets of that happening particularly in this city here in New York. The other thing I'll say is demand. You can't grow apprentichips without demand. And that's true for traditional and non-traditional. So how do we look at these policy nudges? How do you look at public authority? How do you look at apprentichip utilization in a way that is actually um going to promote apprentichip not to just be used on projects but for employers in this city to see that that's something that they can take advantage of particularly if providing some sort of contracted service for the city huge shout out to NYC talent this city has led on public sector apprentichip pathways that is a model for the country on this and and I think that's key as well so policy authority and learning from the trades in these other sectors about how to build apprentichip utilization into public investments is key too. Rachel, how has, if at all, apprenticeship figured into your your research um around, you know, the RN using an R&D framework and trying to disrupt that low resource, low equiency equilibrium. Yeah. I guess I'd say the biggest area where I've been thinking about and working on this has been um Brent mentioned integration with the education system. Um the R&D mentality is built on the concept of integration more with economic development and having priority industry. So when I look at states around the country right now um I think there's some interesting examples of how you can embed apprenticeship into your economic development strategy. Right? So, if you've selected priority industries that you're really focused on and say um you're attracting new businesses into your state, how is apprenticeship part of the conversation on day one as part of the conversations to bring the a company or um uh into your state? Are you putting apprenticeship on the table? Um I think is an important kind of tactic uh that I think is interesting. I also um uh I think one thing that apprenticeship highlights that I talk a lot about in the R&D paper is the need for different t types of tools. I mean, Brent referenced uh quickly, but the federal funding that we have for apprenticeship is mostly it's small dollars and it's mostly aimed at helping to start new programs or get things off the ground and catalyze. Um, which I think is important, but this idea of having like it's not just different tools for different populations. I'm thinking a lot about different tools for different use cases, right? So, we might have new programs that need to get started and we're trying to catalyze something. So what's the right set of funding for that and then there's the like how do you translate something from early startup into actually being able to sustain and scale if it's working and that's a different set of funding. So in in apprenticeship on the federal level like uh I think there's things to be learned from states that have apprenticeship tax credits that then are able to use that as a a way to sustain and grow over time once you've actually gotten something off the ground that looks successful. Um so I think there is a lot of experimentation happening around the country um on this regard right now that's that's interesting and would be encouraging folks in New York to watch. I want to shift a little bit. So Katie has has led workforce strategy at the city level both in the mayor's office at at two different city agencies. Um, and you know, you've you've been on the front lines of where those federal and those state policies are are coming down the pike and being interpreted and the city is is then set to implement. Um what if you had the ears of federal policy makers right now? Is are there any takeaways or anything that you would you would uh say to them just about how that flow um either leaves out certain communities or overlooks certain aspects that uh that I guess make that implementation on the ground in the city difficult. Um yes I'm sure I do. I also, you know, now as a provider and a nonprofit provider, um, I'm, you know, even farther downstream, uh, of this, but I think that some of the big catch22s we've talked about, some of the big strategies, but I think really when you think about what we what we need to do and what we want to get out there is that we need to make sure that the funding is um getting to people. I mean, I'm going to just sort of talk about, I guess, uh, sort of more focused on the city, but, you know, making sure that our, you know, contracts are paid, making sure that this is really happening, just the basics. Um, but if I was going to say something for the federal, I really did encourage, um, when I was on the WDB that we do push more training. Um, I do think that funding higher value training, um, and using a bigger part of our workforce system in that way was something that I personally um, was a fan of. And so if I were to say how are we going to redo uh the system, we were talking about this in the back. Um I was for the 50%. So I would say that's one of the things I would tell them which is moving WEOA from uh I think it's a 20% now but to 50% training. I shared in our prep with especially with Rachel and Brent who aren't operating in in New York City um all the time it you know the city has bought into sector strategies. This has been part of our work, you know, going back 20 years with the Bloomberg administration and setting up sector desk at SPS and creating industry partnerships. And it's like we we know we know the language, we breathe it, and at the same time um it feels like we we also find oursel and and we have the research documenting this is what it costs to run uh an effective program and yet that gulf still exists. um you know I I just in in thinking through how um the R&D framework can maybe help to illuminate those goals or help us make hard decisions about where to focus our workforce efforts. I wonder if we if we hone in for example on sector strategies as something that has promise but when it's underfunded definitely you know is going to fall short you yeah I mean lots to say on this uh as a researcher someone who's followed look when I started getting into workforce development everyone was like look at sectoral employment programs these are the ones that we need to highlight um and yet I think my sense of this is we've had people saying for 20 years like oh there's a set of programs that really work and we've basically had no mechanism really to like channel more public funds towards programs that have shown to work and and um have like really good results. That's that's my sense of it is like there's been there's kind of a disconnect between buyin around saying that we think there's a set of programs that really work and we have some ideas about the factors and then actually like moving resources to be able to help programs that show successful results scale. So I mean the R&D framework, one of the things I talk about is we have this cycle of kind of like oneoff competitive grants um that are more geared towards the idea of being able I think to try new things maybe or do one oneoff kind of activities essentially that's what the structure supports. Um, one analogy that I've been interested in from R&D. So, I don't know if folks know DARPA. It's the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration. It's like a a research entity that um funds important technologies uh and researchers that might have defense applications. United States um focus very heavily on innovation. It helps seed things like the internet. when they structure funding um they use kind of interesting milestone based um types of of arrangements. So here's some seed funding to get something going. Then there's going to be various points in time where we look at how it's going and um not in static old metrics that you set at the outset and you can't revisit flexible ways of evaluating that impact. But the important thing is that you have points in time where you look and say, is this working or is it not? And if it's working, let's unlock more dollars for you to continue and be able to scale rather than waiting for the next cycle and applying for the next competition and strug and in the meantime the research might die and uh uh you lost all of the momentum that you had built. Um but it also has the flip side of the coin which is to say if something is not working then you got that seed funding you got that innovation funding and then sort of this the results don't look good and this isn't promising and the the stream might get cut off. So, I haven't really seen this yet necessarily like deployed in a workforce context, but um I think there's a lot of potential to think through ways that we could structure funding differently that would be both better for um providers to not have to go through the gauntlet every time. Um um and also really deliver on that the promise of what we say we want to see, which is that if something works, there's a route to scaling it. um which I think in practice has not really been delivered on in most places across the country. the just to that the greatest unfunded mandate in workforce development is that we owe us support sector strategies and and I think the the we we want boards were designed to be these strategic entities but the plumbing and the compliance that they have to administer for programs that they push down because they have to to providers across a community is at the end of the day what they are paid to do. And and so I think just this R&D frame point, the the idea that you could be using looser, giving regions and states more opportunities to kind of align and build things towards outcomes is important, but the R&D frame I think is most important for the for the for the D part in the sense that there is not a lot of money out there because the system assumes that there's great highquality providers and so all of its funding structures are paying for those highquality outcomes immediately. Back to my earlier point, in our workforce landscape today, the reason those examples are hard to find is there aren't. We need innovation and investment in new types of workforce interventions and programs in this country and the systems not set up to do that and the infrastructure by which you build them is a sectorbased approach. So what we do with the funding is important but also just I think we have to be much more tailored towards the idea that there is a need for a generational investment in that type of innovation you know and I would just add you know recently at Goodwill we are working in the Bronx um and it's very exciting but I do see this construction of the of different um pockets of workforce systems whether it be at universities the workforce one or EDC But then if we each build one story, we'll never get to story two. We'll never get to story three if we're thinking about a building. So instead, we're spending a lot of money in the Bronx, but we're not um building it on top of each other. And I think that's exactly what you're talking about with the development. How could we integrate? How could we really be building it together? And if you think about, you know, the these key industries, you've got um casinos, you've got um the market, you've got warehouses, you've got transportation, and instead each one is and green jobs. Each one is going to do a little bit instead of them going all the way. there's an extended panel on you know almost turning or just I don't know dismissing that idea um that mantra of oh philanthropy invest in innovation and government invest in scale and and I'm feeling that that is less and less the case and are we missing employers and other parties out there but like I said that's an entirely different panel but so many of these comments have had me thinking about what is that that proper role um we have about two minutes left and So I want to give each of you an opportunity. You can pick your your your target or if it if if you feel like it's universal. So if it's to federal policy makers to to governors or we have a mayor elect who will be uh coming into office in January about where they should focus uh on ways to build lasting opportunity for their constituents. Um what would that be? you can whoever wants to jump in. Well, I have thought about this. Um, so for uh I believe someone's on the transition committee. Um I don't know who heard that. Um but um so for our new mayor here in New York City, you know, a place that I absolutely love and I love the workforce system and and all the folks that are here, but I really would encourage us to think about um taking this moment of opportunity. We're we're honoring several people who are retiring and changing. I would really take this opportunity for the CEO council, the partnership for New York, ABNE, and the WDB to really collaborate and become one super organization of big employers and put the WDB under EDC. Wow. I will build on that by saying at the same time we can create superructures but if we don't deal with the plumbing and and that is not sexy 100 day stuff but it doesn't mean anything if you build a new big new entity which we see happen and not the structural issues are dealt with for how we move resources to the right places programs that can be accessed And and I would say that you know the particularly in this city but all over America uh a real focus on and going to the sector point the care economy and healthcare I think is going to be really key because there's going to be a lot of pain points but that is a huge portion of population and a lot of the mobility challenges that exist in this city. great partners here with 1199 that you could be working with on that front. And and I would just continue to double down on youth. Tomorrow's affordability crisis or today's affordability crisis is born much younger and and I think this city needs a youth strategy. Uh I'll I'll build on Brent's comments a little bit. Um when I'm talking to regions and states around the country right now, I I think it can't be understated the importance of like picking some priorities. I think this is going to be key to breaking the low resource, low efficacy equilibrium um piece of this. Yes, the plumbing is there's a lot of problems with the plumbing. I think fixing the plumbing across an entire system in a few years time is going to be really really challenging. So, how can we pick some places to start where we can make some good bets and maybe it's healthcare here in New York on a set of jobs that we think are likely to grow, play pay good wages without a BA and have a real strategy and mobilize some new resources towards a targeted focus that gets everyone on the t around the table kind of rowing in the same direction and then and then be able to hopefully see good results from that that can be um can be expanded uh across a system. I think it's I think especially in this environment where the federal resources are not looking like they're going to be flooding in in enormous um uh quantity in the coming years. Probably safe to say like how can we lay the groundwork by showing some things that really work that will allow you to then um build upon uh hopefully in a moment where there um are more resources coming. Well, with that, thank you everyone. I hope I hope this was thoughtprovoking. Please read Rachel's paper. I'm sure the coalition will make it available. Um and and I'm going to just say reach out to any of these just champions and experts. Thank you. Hey everybody, if I could have your attention this way for one it. We having a good morning. How's it going so far? You feeling good? We learning. We're engaging. What a dynamic uh space this is. I need you to do me a favor. We're getting ready to bring up the the chancellor. Michael Collins is here. But I just need you to do me a favor. The next gentleman we're bringing out to moderate is David Fiser. He is the interim executive director of NIATEP. He is a tremendous colleague and friend and I would like nothing more than for you to give him a huge huge round of applause. So David Fiser, please come out and join us. I would love for you to give David a big round of applause. A thanks. Uh it's really great to be here. Very special. Uh thank you so much. Um, my name is David Fischer. I am the interim executive director of the New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals or NIATEP. NIATEP is New York's only statewide workforce industry association. We have more than 150 members from Buffalo to Brooklyn and everything from small nonprofits to multi multi-service nonprofits to businesses, employer intermediaries, colleges, and universities. and all 32 of New York State's workforce development boards. Uh we offer professional development and training, conferences and community events and policy research and advocacy and we very much value our partnership and our collaboration with the New York City Employment and Training Coalition. Uh I'm absolutely delighted to be moderating this conversation. Uh before I came into the interim role, uh I was a consultant and previous to that I was the executive director of the New York City Mayor's Office of Youth Employment. So really thought a lot about building comprehensive holistic systems of career readiness for youth and young adults. Uh and that's kind of how we're going to be uh discussing this um getting at this next subject. Um, we're going to be talking about how higher education must evolve structurally, operationally, and culturally to drive economic mobility for the next generation of New Yorkers. We're very fortunate that we'll be hearing from two of the most insightful voices in this space. Uni Chancellor Felix Monttos Rodriguez and Jobs for the Future Senior Vice President Michael Collins. Before we bring on the chancellor, I just wanted to share a few quick thoughts to frame our conversation. First of all, and I'm sure everybody in the room knows this, CUNI is a socioeconomic mobility powerhouse. The Wall Street Journal recently ranked uh colleges for their sort of best value in the United States based on how quickly graduates make back the cost of their education. The top seven schools were CUNI schools. That's not just that's worth applauding. Absolutely. Um that's not just lapping that's not lapping the conver the competition. that's finishing before everybody else gets out of the blocks. At the same time, we know that CUNI has more work to do to extend the benefits of this education to everyone. Their own data finds that about 80% of bachelor's degree graduates are steadily employed within a year after graduation. That's up from 68% several years before. The national figure is closer to 85 or 90%. However, and the story on internships is even more striking in both directions. A few years ago, the rate of cutuney paid internships was around 10%. They have tripled that. They've gotten it up to 30%. But again, the national rate is around 57%. And we know that paid internships might be the single biggest determinant of successful labor market outcomes after graduation. Third point, while we think of college primarily through the frame of degrees, CUTUNI serves roughly as many students through adult and continuing education programs as through their degree programs. If you look across the entire system, there also, I'm sure some of you saw a piece in Chalkbeat last week that talked about how there are 34,000 New York City high school students, students of New York City public schools now taking dual enrollment courses through CUNI. The stat that really struck me was that a majority of the student body at Kingsboro Community College are undergrads. Uh, not college undergrads, high school undergrads. So that is I mean if you're familiar with jobs to the future's work around the big blur and just these ideas of how do we kind of create more personalized and a wider menu of education and career readiness experiences. This is all a good sign but again it sort of comp you know like complexifies the uh the question of how do you reconfigure college for all these new realities. And that gets me to my last point. This is really a moment of transition for higher education. Public perception regarding the value of college has steadily declined for years now. Falling birth rates signal a smaller potential pool of future students. And we have a federal administration, I don't need to tell anyone in this room, that often seems inclined to view the higher education sector less as an economic input and more as a culture war enemy. Now, CUNI, the City University of New York, dedicated to broad access and advancement, the largest local system in the United States, sits at the intersection of all these trends. And there's nobody better to help us think through it and talk through it than the chancellor of CUNI, Felix Moss Rodriguez. Thank you so much. Where do you want me? Uh, I'll I'll go I'll go here. You want to Okay, come right here. Awesome. Good point. Chair is a little lower than I thought it was going to be. There was almost a I don't know if any of you seen that show, The Chair Company on HBO, but the the inciting incident is when uh Tim Tim Robinson just collapses sitting down in a chair or the chair collapses under him. Drives him crazy. Uh, Chancellor, thank you so much for being with us today uh and for your leadership. not just of CUNI but really as a champion for workforce access for all New Yorkers. You are as Greg was talking earlier about the transition team um you know and how he is the only workforce person. I thought that's true but there are also all these people across the transition teams many in the room today on education on social services uh who are workforce people. And so, you know, as we think about how to bring this together, how to get to, you know, the idea that workforce is in and of everything, uh, I'm just so grateful for your leadership and your perspective on all of this. Delighted to be here and and and happy to be considered a workforce person. It's a badge of honor. Thank you. I think everybody here would agree. So, I want to start with a with a big picture question. Um, I think the traditional understanding of higher education's mission, kind of going back to almost the several hundred years ago time when it was really the the reserve of the wealthy and privileged, uh, is that colleges and universities offer instruction that leads to credentials, degrees, and what you students subsequently make of those degrees is their concern. But CUTUNI as a system is clearly committed to socioeconomic mobility. We've seen that in all the sort of certainly the workforce focused initiatives of recent decades from ASAP uh right straight through to beyond which you announced earlier this fall. And my sense is that sometimes this tension flares up in questions like when and how to award credit for prior learning or you know distinctions in enrollment and financial aid between the degree and nonredit sides of the house. Uh or how colleges address questions like when a student has stopped out and then comes back but has outstanding fees. um what they do with that. As a leader who really has centered career readiness and your vision for the system, uh how do you navigate that tension? Where do you want the system to go and what are the obstacles you see to getting there? Well, again, thanks thanks for the question. Thank you for the opportunity and for all of you for being here and Greg and the team, thank you for the uh for the invitation. So, I mean, I guess our answer in in a number of ways. I mean, some of that tension is history. you alluded to some of the things that are part of it. Um some of some things have very mundane explanations right and it's uh you know what kind of billing was supporting the you know for the let's say the credit side you will have financial aid from the state and the city qualifying for the other side you would not. So it was an easy business decision to separate the two and then those silos begin to become a lot more uh stronger and and and and and complicated, right? Uh and I also think that some people have back on their mind ideas of um institutions that would grant credit for prior learning on things, you know, that might not been that reputable uh many decades past, right? and that baggage uh saw it real other than that baggage also helped to feel misconceptions that people might have had. So um I think for us I mean two things is is to think about all those individuals that come knocking in our doors as our students. Are they coming for a traditional degree? Are they're part of a language program uh or a short-term degree? They're are students, right? They're part of the community no matter what. Um, one of the things that we learned in our overhaul of the transfer uh system, which uh I mean it was actually unfortunate to say that even though we were a system, we were putting roadblocks to students who moved from the community colleges to the four-year colleges. Uh, and some of those things were things that we created ourselves. Um, but part of what led to the easier way to have that conversation was to look at the learning outcomes. Right? At the end of the day, each class, each program has learning outcomes, right? Students are going to learn A, B, and C. So when you say, okay, let's forget about who's paying for what and what. Let's put the learning outcomes there and then do an overlap, right? It became a lot easier for the faculty to so then talk about, oh, then clearly this really transfers because that class is teaching A, B, and C. When you do the same thing with a lot of the programming that we have on, you know, what's traditionally called sort of the continue education side, that overlap then allows people to see clearly uh that they're learning these things. If they learn if I if I say in this side of the operation they learn these things that is valued when they should come our way. Um and and that's one way in which we've been getting uh faculty and others to sort of be um um you know more creative in creating pathways that that uh encompasses uh the two sides. Um, another thing, and this might not sound incredibly sexy, uh, but under the leadership with Lauren Anderson, uh, Lauren Lauren back there. So that's, uh, uh, yes, shout out to LA, our vice chancellor for career partnerships. Uh, we didn't have, for example, on for continuing ed a centralized system of data. each campus, you know, was being entrepreneurial, doing their own thing. Uh, but we really had no way when we had to report things out. You had to sort of like do 26 questions to each campus to get that information. and under Laurens leadership says we need to invest right in this kind of a system because this is one way for us not just to have the the right data to be you know guiding our programs and right you know asking all the right questions and and and moving forward but then it's going to be easier to integrate into um your other programs because we're going to be able to connect student a one system to the uh uh to the next. So those are some investments that we've been doing. Um and I think the campuses have um responded well. I will say also that the the enrollment shock. I mean we lost about 30% of the students uh during the pandemic. I mean that was a huge huge uh loss of students uh there has been um added interest in how do we get all kinds of students back. Yeah. Right. And that has allowed for a lot of the work on reconnect uh and and and so this also facilitated some conversations because there's a lot more of our own hands on deck on how do we bring back not just your traditional 17 year olds graduating from New York City public schools but all of those New Yorkers uh some of them who already have some credentials um and some might not who want to uh come back and and be in a university setting. Thank you. Um, I'm going to I'm going to audible a little bit. Yes. Um, and uh, I mean, just because of the point the point you just made about the returning students. I mean, it seems to me that as I mentioned in my introduction, uh, the demographics are what they are. And there's a smaller pool of younger people coming up in that traditional age range. And at the same time, we have hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers in this city employed today. uh many in sort of uh my friend Theres daily earlier mentioned the uh you know the Alice standard that said 48% of households are uh you know of working households um are sort of not able to meet basic standards many of those folks went to college and stopped out and you you referenced Reconnect which is of course the initiative to bring them back help them complete their degrees um how would you say the system is kind of coming along in terms of shifting itself from this traditional model and I know it wasn't always the case that it was only 18 year olds ever but it seems like now you now perhaps more in the past and likely even more going forward it's going to be more older students how is that sort of adjustment coming what do you think needs to happen for CUNI as a system to get there and maybe most important what can the public sector city and state government do to help speed that process along well thank thank you for that question I mean say a number of things about that. I mean one is that um if if you are in the lifelong learning u work right and and and this that's part of your mission uh then the working with recent graduates from high school or people who are in other points uh in their lives. It's kind of an artificial um uh construction uh that you have to tear down. That's part of the work that we've been doing too. If if we're really serious about this and also we've been telling people they're going to be lifelong learners, we need to adapt who we are a little bit to um to embrace embrace that narrative more fully. Um, I mean, higher ed, I mean, if if you read um, you know, what the New York Times and some of the the key um, media report, it's it's a universe that speaks to 5% of what higher ed really is nationally, right? And and uh, and we suffer a little bit from that, right? people uh look and and it's traditional college age and that's what we should be hoping to to do and that's what we should be able to uh to attract students and um and a right there's not that many of those students to go around anymore right if you were doing it just out of for demographics right the math would not would not hold uh but uh when you are in the again lifelong learning learning uh work and and you are the you see yourself as the engines as the city's main as a public institution as an anchor institution main driver uh of knowledge of learning or training uh then you have to be much more expansive and that's that's the challenge that we have put to um to our campuses in many places that was already being done I mean clearing the community colleges and some of our other schools they were doing that before right so as you said it's it's it it was not as as new to them. But as the system over time, you know, and if you look at our numbers prior to COVID, uh the system was growing in size. Even though the New York City public school population was shrinking, we were getting better at getting a better yield of that shrinking population coming uh uh coming to us. high school graduation rate over the years and and uh um so there was a focus there and and when I became chancellor I said you know we need to sort of be be bolder in in in in visioning and the other part that I'll say too is also take some responsibility for some of those u individuals out there who have some college or no degree some of some our students right who for some reason decided to stop out right. Um so there was that there was some ownership that we had of that too and I wanted us to acknowledge that as we went to to work with the population. Um you know luckily uh you know we met and and this was you know uh Speaker Adams um Aaron Adams uh um you know big big supporter of this allow us to get the resources to then be able to go out and do this massive push. So now we have um the support on the governor's program for the you know two years free of community college uh for individuals between 25 and 55 who are in some in the high demand sector high demand sectors right so um that has been great for us um first because you know about 20,000 students right have come back and and reconnected and and and for us it's a joy when you see that that that that talent being exposed and being able to improve their uh their situations and and and aspire to either a different job or a better job. But it's also has been great for us in terms of learning things that we need to improve in our own pipeline so that we have less of those folks dropping out to begin with. Right? So Reconnect has been great in terms of addressing a real need that the city has and doing that in a comprehensive way. Um and and then also schooling for us and in in any you know in education in higher ed uh I'm sure in workforce um uh development too there's trends and in some ways we're a victim to of our own success. The push, the right push to get more people to complete, right, which is an important value, was tied up to data that said that individuals who attend full-time have a better chance of finishing on time. Duh. But anyway, right. But but but that and then that led higher, us included, to focus more on people coming full-time. Yeah. Right. and then not putting that much attention to the part-time students. You tried to fit humans into the paradigm rather than shift the paradigm. And I think now reconnect I mean about I think between 60 and 70% of those individuals that have come back to us to reconnect are part-time students most which are going to take a little bit longer to graduate. But if they have the right levels of support, you're not going to lose them. I mean they're going to get to the finish line, right? Uh but that was I mean an example of the the system and again for for good reasons emphasizing full-time and as a way to get we're able to complete and to graduate which is part of our work but not thinking as much of the needs for the part- timerrs and I what I love about reconnect is not just the people that we have uh uh brought back and have graduated and all that but it's been a great learning uh exercise for us to be able to re-emphasize the importance of the part-time population and then with the governor's support of adding uh pel uh for part-time uh tap tap for part time uh that was that was huge. So all those things have been really helpful on that realm. So thank you for your audible. No no no um and now I'm going to go and kind of look at the other end of it uh which is the relationship of CUNI with the K12 system. Um, I'm sure probably many in the room know that uh of New York City public school students who graduate and go on to college, something like 80% of them go to CUNI. Something like 80% of, not surprisingly, Kuni student body are graduates of NYC public schools. So, we have this sort of de facto K to6 continuum in New York City. Um, and I know that this has really been a focus of Lauren and her team's work, of Andrea Sunnichan and her team's work, and just would love to hear from you kind of where you think that is and what the next steps could be to better support these secondary to post-secary transitions. I mean, that is so incredibly important uh for us at CUNI and and I see the students in K12 as my students, right? Whether they end up coming to CUNI or not, many end up coming. Um, and you know, one thing also that I said when I became chancellor to the the then chancellor, it's been, you know, several since I've been chancellor, uh, is I'm not going to get into a blame game because some of the things you see in the past is CUNI would complain about the quality of the students who were getting, right? And the DOE will say, well, we're doing all these exciting programs. When they go to cutuni, you're not as exciting, right? And it was this game. I said, I'm not going to do that, right? They're my students and we're going to work together to make this work. Uh, one of the things I did when I became chancellor, I'm very proud we have quarterly meetings. uh the two chancellors and their top teams because I mean we're talking about you know New York City you know ready and we're talking about college now sort of dual uh degree programs but you know we also have a large role in teacher training in a whole range of things that interface with that and I wanted to prioritize that work and I wanted both the teams my team at the central office and the chancellor's team at the university public schools to prioritize the work that we were doing and see ourselves as a team. Um there was a great infrastructure of data and things that I built on but I wanted to make it a high level priority. Uh it's been a joy uh you know to work with um with uh with Melissa the current chancellor and David uh prior to that and it's one of my highest priorities and um you know something that when I became chancellor we have data we have a sense um by sophomore year about your level of college readiness based on the data that we have sophomore year in high school. So if we have we know that right and it's not about clipping anybody's wings or tracking but let's be more intentional in doing some interventions with some of the students that might have some gaps earlier on right um and this is what the the sending uh an individualized letter to every student every senior we don't for three years saying there's a place for you at my secret hope is that we can get to do that even earlier right but we we we take our we take our our our steps uh closer. But first that level of of saying you really want it at that very stressful time. Uh anybody here who has you know seniors in their house in their household knows how stressful that time is with college. Uh this year we took it even a step further by doing the letter uh um virtual uh online because now the letter says also for the students that have some college credits already accumulated. it already tells you what you already have in the bank uh to give you more confidence as you apply right that you're going to be able to um uh so that has been this intense working relationship with them a lot of the work on career readiness I am proud that uh I knew firsthand who was doing that on the DOE side and they knew who was working with Lauren on on our end uh so I think that that we are really really ready to take it to a next level. Um uh so I'm obviously very interested in in uh in the transition, right? Who's going to end up uh being the counterpart there? Uh because it is one great gift that you have in New York City that you have CUNI and the New York City public schools and for all the challenges that those big bureaucracies have and we have them, right? But also when they do get to work together, there is really really a great agenda uh that can be beneficial to all those students to get them uh when they come to us at CUNI to be better consumers, savvier, uh much more focused in in one of the things that they might want, they might not want uh uh with some college credits, being able to do it faster, more in a more affordable way. So that is a huge interest of mine and and I love those uh quarterly meetings between the two teams. Thank you. Thank you for that. And I will since Greg, you know, when he was giving his rather energetic presentation earlier kind of energetic the coffee guy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Talking about you know what we all would wish to convey to the transition team. I mean, for my part, uh, it's just a a sincere hope that that work within the NYC public schools continues because I feel like that is, you know, we've talked about plumbing all morning and yesterday as well. And I feel like the story that you're telling and that we've heard from others is that, you know, there are some some well-designed, well-fitted pipes there. Uh, and we just need to continue the flow. We need to leverage the plumbing. So with that, I'd like to bring out Michael Collins, the vice president of senior vice president of jobs for the future. Good to see you again. Uh this is I think a very a very important a very important expansion of the conversation that the chancellor and I have had. Now we're sort of looking at success a bit more holistically. Um, and I guess to start, Michael, uh, Jobs for the Future set a northstar goal of 75 million Americans holding quality jobs by 2033. And earlier this fall, JFF contributed to a report, the American Job Quality Study, which defined a baseline of how many Americans hold quality jobs now based on extensive surveying and kind of set out why quality jobs matter so much. Uh and the report found that only 40% of workers hold quality jobs. But and this is not surprising necessarily, the share goes up among those with higher educational attainment, 47% for those with a bachelor's degree, 54% among graduate degree holders. So a couple questions related to this. First of all, you know, do you understand this to be more correlation or causation? And second, beyond simply sending more people to college, important though that is, or trying to boost the graduation rate, important though that is, what are some of the steps that we can take, you know, the public sector in particular, but really all stakeholder groups to expand access to quality jobs. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that question and I'm I'm very happy to be here. It's been an amazing uh conversation. So really uh privileged to be a part of it. So when we um established kind of the northstar goal, part of what we were thinking about is, you know, employment, having a job of course is important, right? But there's there's more. And one of the things that hit me particularly hard um around job quality really happened during COVID, right? The types of jobs that people had had major impact on how they weathered that um the the pandemic. And so we set this goal in 2023 and we said looking 10 years out we thought um 75 million was audacious. It was bold at that time about half people uh half Americans had quality uh jobs and we really kind of set our sights on ensuring that there was kind of equitable access to quality jobs. And so when you think about who has a quality job and who doesn't, it's likely intuitive, right? There are like we you were talking earlier about some college degree. So a big part of the population that doesn't have a post-secondary credential, right? That's a big population that doesn't have quality job. People of color are less likely to have a quality job. And really um all degree levels, women, same thing, all degree levels. And then also people who have been impacted by our criminal justice system. So when we talk about our northstar, that goal for quality jobs, we of course JFF's mission is economic opportunity for all, but we do really think about how do we ensure that it's inclusive and that everybody has access. So here um before I get to the the uh correlation and causation question, here's why I think it's the the quality job conversation is so important for the work that that you all are doing. So um I'm a I'm a dad. I have a I have a a teenager and one of the most important things um that I'm able to do is to provide kind of support to him to help him navigate his life. And when I think about kind of families and communities and workers really providing kind of the space for them to not just earn a living, not just to get somebody another dollar, but to really be able to make decisions about how they support and develop their family, um their their communities. And so I think that that is why job quality is important. So there are multiple dimensions. Of course, everybody probably thinks about the financial. There is of course the financial security, but there's also do you have an opportunity to to advance on your job? Is there an opportunity for professional growth? Growth is do you have say in your job? Is there any kind of um do you have any voice in kind of maybe how your your job is structured? um do you have a sense of whether or not you'll have a flexible schedule so that you can you know do your appointments your you know your pickup and drop off those kinds of things we think are really really important for kind of a strong and resilient workforce so here here are I was thinking about there's a workforce audience there's you know that does kind of the workforce and kind of the traditional uh completion and job quality kind of touches all of that so I want to get to the the question about correl relation and causation and and there's a lot in that question that we have to grapple with. So when you think about kind of quality jobs, again I mentioned the populations who have them. Some of it's intuitive, right? Like so if you get a college degree, you are more likely, right? This is not a surprise. You are more likely um to have a quality job. Some of that is causal, right? Presumably you earn skills, you build your kind of your your network and that can matter, right? Empirically that can matter. But the correlation piece is a big big part of a college degree, right? Because there are some factors about people who get college degrees that may not be about the degree, right? Who you are, your family, where you live, your like your network, all of those things also matter. So I think that it's a bit of both. I think that having a credential, you know, both a bachelor's degree, graduate degree, you know, um are you're going to increase your chances of having a quality job. But here's where I think things get complicated. That degree does not do the same thing for for everyone, right? And so one of the things that I learned kind of I I over the I've been at JFF for uh 21 years. And so most of that time I I led our post-secary success work. Over the last five years I was leading an initiative in our organization to look at kind of population impacts. And so I did a lot of work um after 2020 did a lot of work looking at outcomes for black learners and workers and subsequently looked at multiple kind of populations and worker segments. And when you dig into that data, even if you've been in the field a really long time, it is it's staggering the differences in terms of employment outcomes and earnings by race and some by gender. And so when you think about kind of say a bachelor's degree and access to a quality job, if you share my kind of heritage and background, that degree, that bachelor's degree gets you closer to some a white person with an associates degree would get, right? And then there's even data that um show that white people with, and this is just kind of average, white people with high school diplomas, some of them earn more than black people with a social disres. I don't say all that to to make us feel uncomfortable. I I I name it because if we want credentials to work naturally and we want people to have access to quality jobs, we want them to work for everyone. I mention that that gap because I think it's not about kind of the population. I think it's a signal about the strength of our systems, right? like if our if if if if our systems are not able to produce kind of equitable outcomes, there's some lessons there's there's some things we need to fix. So I think that it has implications for kind of the conversation you've been having at this convening, but also for the amazing work that CUNI is doing, right? And CUNI is leading, I think, in the nation in access and um and some of these issues that I'm mentioning. So I'm going to do an audible and no because I think that that part of of uh my when I became chancellor being focused on the career engagement piece piece at large has to do with the role that social capital plays in in in the stats that you just share right and and how for us where half of the students are the first one to go to college in their family maybe between 30 and 40% depending on on on the here uh either were not born in the US or the children of immigrants, right? That we needed to do a lot more on the social capital side, right? To be able to fight as much as we could those inequities and and and beyond in part is our is our response to be able to do that that since the first day the students step on the campus, we are being intentional. It's not about uh forcing people into careers they don't want. I mean, none of that. It's it's about exposure read large. The people that are that have a better sense, they run with that. The people like most students who need some more guidance, they will use that to be able to map their journey and vision possibilities and and then also get hands-on experience. And it's not just the experience, it's also the social capital, it's the networks is that person when you do and this is why I am a pain uh and you know anybody here who employs people they run away from me because I'm going to ask you not for money but for paid internships for my students because I know what that does for the social capital right that gives you exposure you know people who can write a letter for you who's going to tell you that uh a job opening is available all the things all those networks that our students have all the talent, all the aspiration they don't have. So part of our cutie beyond initiative is rooted uh in part on our commitment to that. But that component about how social capital is a really really important part of that entire journey. Uh it's it's it's huge. So thank you for making that point. Absolutely. No, I couldn't I could not agree more. Um I'm sorry that we're missing No, no, no. That's where I was going to go next. That was my next question. Okay. No, this is I think that that you actually bought us back a little time. Thank you. Okay. Okay. I I I I could not improve on that point. I I really do believe like as as I've done this work going on 30 years, that's the missing ingredient. Like we don't talk about it a lot, right? But the social capital who you know the the amazing research that Raj Chetty and his colleagues have done uh right uh like on those connections, right? And it's sometimes it's not necessarily, you know, of course there's social capital people in your community, but it's also people who might be adjacent to you, people that you don't even have a strong kind of relationship with that can open a door. And I do think that that is a big part of what's missing. So what does that mean for our institutions though? Because you might say, well, you know, that that's for a family to kind of develop. Yes. But but there are also things as you just mentioned that institutions can do. So I want to mention just one resource. um JFF we um did an analysis of um as we're calling professional social capital. Are there employers that are providing supports around kind of the mentorship, the coaching, the advising? And so that's available on our website. Uh it's about it's a it's a a scan. It looks at different models um to develop professional social capital. And of course that's not it's social capital is not endemic to you know to black people or brown people. It's that's that's everyone. So um so that resource is there. Thank you. Uh, wonderful, man. I have about eight more questions that we're not going to be able to get to. Uh, I could talk with these two guys all day because I'm just learning a ton and this is one of my very favorite subjects. But, uh, I will be a a responsible moderator and also I think this mic might explode if I don't. So, uh, and so, uh, we'll get we'll get to our final question. Um, as everybody well knows, we have a new mayoral administration taking office in this city in less than three weeks. And so much of what the mayor elect ran on had to do with affordability, had to do with dignity, had to do with connection, all the things that both of you have talked about. Uh, as the incoming administration considers the link between higher education and economic mobility, what do you see as the single most impactful move they should make? If you could corner mayor elect and sort of tell him one thing, and of of course some of us might be able to do this. Chancellor, should I go first so you can have the last word? And I um so you can Yes. Okay. I'll just because I'll be brief. I want this is really this is really for you. You know, one of the one of the earlier conversations um the gentleman I'm forgetting his name was mentioning kind of apprenticeship. Um and um my understanding is there's some affinity for apprenticeship. Um, so I do think that there's an opportunity there, but I would broaden it. Like so like if you think about apprentichip or just work-based learning, learn and earn, those I think that those are huge opportunities, but just at a macro level, I think in like as I've worked in kind of college completion and workforce success, the economic security piece of it has been completely absent. Right? It's almost like we build these pathways and we think that things are going to happen. powerful frame that we have in your amazing opportunity to actually bring kind of the issues of economic security and its impact for completion, right? People feeling safe, people being fed, right? You got your rent paid and then you can invest in your in your learning. Well, a lot of the reasons why we ended up with the individuals in that category of some college no degree was because of a housing crisis of food insecurity, not about grades and a whole number is is things that used to happen in let's say the affordability. Yes. Uh uh bucket that that if that was much more robustly uh addressed, it would have a huge impact in the students that we serve. So kudos there. So obviously uh you know when I meet is going to be cut beyond right because I think that in many many ways that is our comprehensive systemwide strategy that is talking about how do we uh engage with students from even before they touch the campus because we want to do it with the 30,000 students that we work with who are in the New York City public schools but is the intentionality of everybody on campus knowing that part of our role is to be part of that student's journey of exploration. U of having them have maps that not just talk about your academic progress but your career milestones, right? That the same time that you're thinking that I'm going to take history 202 next year that I need to be thinking about setting up my Handshake account and getting things ready and internships and things of that nature. um that we are pressing um our business partners to provide a lot more internship opportunities uh which in our case at our price point is great financial aid if you pay uh I mean I don't know how much you guys pay your interns right but you pay interns a couple of thousand dollar if your community college tuition is $5,000 a year if you get a couple of thousand uh and you're on financial aid that's your money for food and security transportation all those things if you're paying out of pocket market. It's a scholarship, right? So, at our price point, the paid internships have a huge multiplying effect uh and and on on that the work that we're doing in bringing, you know, upgrading our curriculum by bringing industry voices uh to uh to work with them, having specialists uh and and people come come and teach. Um it it shapes our advising, it shapes uh all our work. So I will say um you know why don't you pay for the portion of you know beyond that is part of the community colleges right which is normally what the the the the mayors do um uh for us uh but also fully embracing I mean and your point was so dead on that that if if if we do a far better work in the city uh on housing on food insecurity uh it is going to have huge huge huge different in in the students that we serve. So um that's what I will say um in the first meeting. Wonderful. It sounds great. I think probably music to the ears of everyone in this room. Uh please join me in thanking our discussions. Thank you. Thank you so much. It's got enough of a rich. Good morning. We're running a little bit behind, so I'm going to get started right away. Um, good morning. My name is Greg Ry Out. I am one of the two co-CEOs at Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow. And along with Evelyn Ortiz, my co-CEO, we are super excited to introduce the moderator for the next panel. Um and the next panel is a very exciting shift. We spent most of the morning talking about economic mobility and we are now going to shift to a conversation around economic sustainability. And you know, at OBT so often, especially with our young parents, we see our participants work so hard to get into the program, to complete their credential training, to complete their internship, and then land a very good first job only to then face a benefits cliff. The loss of public benefits that puts persistence in that job at peril. And so with that, I'll turn it over to Evelyn to introduce the moderator. Thank you. So I want to first thank NYC for bringing this issue center stage because this really is a policy crisis that is literally devastating families every single day and it does not get enough attention. Right? And I will highlight and I know folks have to move out of this room but it is really important as practitioners that we pay close attention to what is being discussed today because this issue isn't contained. Um it's a it causes a ripple effect across our entire system and it really affects all of the families that we serve. During my time while I was at NIAP, the New York uh the New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals, I saw firsthand um how this reaches all across our state. Um and it really traps people in poverty, right? And what we are experiencing is that we are losing talent we just can't afford to lose. people who are ready to work, ready to grow, and they're locked out, as Greg mentioned, out of economic mobility by policies that penalize progress. However, today's moderator has changed how we talk about this because she has changed what we can see. The data and the tools that she and her team have developed give practitioners like us what we need to address benefit cliffs head on. as she is fighting for the policy solutions that finally give families a way out. So with that, please join us in welcoming Shashana Martyr of the LEAP Fund to lead us into our next session, Cliffnotes: Navigating Benefits Without Falling Behind. Thank you all. Hello everyone. How are y'all doing? Okay. Okay. Um, thank you so much, Greg and Evelyn. That was such a great intro. Um, as they said, I'm Shashana. I'm the executive director at Leap Fund where we are all about tackling that benefits cliff. And that's when someone earns a dollar or two more an hour, but as a result loses public benefits are worth a lot more. So, just raise of hands, I could kind of see it. Um, how many how many people here are familiar with a benefits cliff? Wow. Okay, that is a lot of you. This is great because today we're really going to be able to dive into more of what their impacts are, how organizations like Greg Evelyn at OBT and others are helping people navigate them. Um, and what's happening on New York State and nationally, what are some of the policy um policy solutions out there to help mitigate them? So, just a bit of background at Leaf Fund. We started in 2018 in talking to people who received public benefits um and learning that not only were people facing these cliffs, but they often didn't know when it was going to happen. So, that meant people were forced to make financially conservative decisions like not taking a job or not taking a raise just because they didn't know how it was going to impact their benefits. Um, we've seen this come up especially in the workforce development space. What this might mean for someone is maybe they're finally getting that job that they trained for and then are unexpectedly um getting a severe loss to their benefits. Maybe they're not pursu pursuing that job to begin with or maybe not even joining that program to begin with because of this this fear and this question of how their benefits are going to be impacted. So what this means is that we have people striving for new opportunities and yet the fear and the reality of benefits clips are punishing them for pursuing better jobs, higher wages, greater stability. Uh we always like to be super clear. This is not the fault of people who receive benefits. But this is really a policy and systems failure that allows these cliffs to exist. Creates this whole mystery around the benefit system and how income benefits different benefits are interacting with each other. Um so that's why at leund we're really looking to tackle this problem at two levels. The first is a transparency part. Um so we equip benefit recipients, organizations with tool, data, clear information so that they can navigate benefits cliffs today and so that people can make informed decisions versus um unexpectedly falling into a crisis. So, we've been working with organizations nationally through our benefits cliff coaching program. And this is actually a really exciting time to be talking to you all because a couple months ago, we recently launched a pilot with NYC where we're working with seven workforce development organizations here in New York City like opportunities for a better tomorrow um to train their staff around how to navigate benefits cliffs conversations, but also really to gain more learnings around how are benefits cliffs impacting New Yorkers right now. So that's the first piece is the transparency. But then of course we have the larger issue. Transparency is an important step. It doesn't fully solve benefits cliffs. So at le we're also collecting data and stories on how benefits cliffs are blocking mobility. And that's what we're hoping we can channel upwards for some real policy level change to fully eliminate these cliffs. Um so we have an amazing exciting panel today with folks with all different kinds of expertise from coaching people navigating cliffs on the organizational side. what does it mean to incorporate this into the into the work into the programming that um that you're doing and on the policy side as well both in New York State and nationally um expertise and just what what are some of the solutions out there to mitigate and eliminate cliffs and really excited to dive in today both into into both those pieces. How can we support people who are facing these cliffs now um and how can we also create really system levels change so that we can mitigate and eliminate these cliffs altogether. So, with that, I would like to bring out our amazing panel. Um, Terry, Alicia, Stacy, and Rebecca. We're saying before, this is a very dramatic entrance. If anyone wants to strike a pose, give a twirl. Hello everyone. It is so exciting to have have you all today here today. Um to get things started, we would just love to learn learn a little bit more about about each of you. So maybe we could start with Stacy and um if you could introduce yourself and I'd love to hear from you um why are benefits cliffs important to you and your work. Okay. Hi, good morning everybody. Um or no afternoon. Um so I'm Stacy Nelman. I'm the director of public assistance for New York State. Uh so I work at the office of temporary and disability assistance. Um, I'm just really grateful to be here today to have this conversation with everyone. Um, it's such a vital issue. Um, I mean, I used to be a PA recipient. I know what it is to worry that if I get income, I can't afford child care. And I have been there. I have made that leap and realized, oh, I'm functionally earning a$1.25 an hour now once I'm paying for my own child care. and uh yeah, so we're looking for innovative solutions and I'm just great to be here with these folks. Good morning. My name is Alicia Johnson. I am the assistant director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at the Louisville Urban League in Louisville, Kentucky. We are a part of the National Urban League headquartered in Harlem, New York. and I am glad to be here and be able to give um my opinion and some facts about benefits cliff. I too was a recipient of section 8 Medicaid SNAP benefits when I was in college with three kids, three small kids. And when I landed a job, it shocked me because I lost all of that immediately and I was not prepared. I never had the conversation with anybody. So, I am glad to be here to speak on behalf of the clients that I serve at the Louisville Urban League. Thank you. Hey there, I'm Rebecca Sides. I'm with the American Public Human Services Association or APA. We are the bipartisan membership association for city, county, and state human service agencies across the country. Um, we represent administrators of SNAP, TANNIF, SNAP employment and training, child care, child welfare, and other programs. And I work most closely with SNAP employment and training and TANIF administrators in my role, which connects me to Stacy. So excited to have you here. Um, and I did, while we're introducing ourselves, want to mention, uh, I know that New York City and Long Island like to distinguish themselves from one another, but, uh, I did grow up a short LR train ride away from here, uh, right by Stony Brook Sunni. So, it is so good to be back in New York. And just, thank you so much for having me and inviting me, Shashana. This is such an important question what we hear from our members, right? And Shashan, I introduced this so well already that you know that small increase in wages, in work hours or a promotion can mean hundreds or even thousands of dollars lost for families if they hit a cliff in a year. Um but also on the same token, if there's a policy change like an asset limit change, eligibility limit, treatment of income change, that might create a new cliff for families suddenly. And so families lose more than they gain. employers who have worked hard to hire workers lose them to um simple math. Um there's a lot of research that shows benefit cliffs are impacting communities of color disproportionately in comparison to white communities. And when you look at the interplay of public benefits um policies uh you see that over like across the board we're seeing that um they're limiting benefits cliffs are limiting economic opportunity but they're also disadvising disincentivizing career growth. Um so it's really a wicked problem because uh you can't solve benefits cliffs across programs with a single policy. And so we're looking for a career ladder out of poverty, but we really are looking more at just a continuous uphill climb because of cliffs. And I guess it's afternoon now. So good afternoon everyone. My name is Terry O Peters. I'm the clinical supervisor at the DOE fund. and um benefit cliffs um plays a major role in who's going to return back to work and who is not. Um just the ideal of returning back to work for someone who's been on public benefits for a while is terrifying. And then on top of that, once they make the transition into full-time employment, obtaining it is one thing, but maintaining it is another. And how is that going to impact their day-to-day life? So this tool is important to me because it allows me to have an informed conversation with the person on the other side and allow them to make the decision that's going to be best for their life. Thank you. Thank you everyone. Um Terry, I was thinking when you say good afternoon, I entered one for entered once for a court and the most exciting time of the day was when it turned 12 o'clock. Say good afternoon. So we've made it. Um, I have some individual questions for each of you, but really goal is for this to be more of a conversation. So, feel free to jump in at any point. And Terry, I really want to um dive into more what you were saying. The tool that Terry was referencing is our benefits cliff calculator um which can predict for folks and show them um how is this new job that I'm looking to obtain, how will that impact my benefits? Um and you've been having a lot of these conversations. Um, so I'd love to hear from you. Um, how are you seeing benefits cliffs um already shape the ability of of the folks that you're working with to advance and what's it like as a coach to guide them through that process? Okay. Well, um, when I first started using the tool, um, it terrified me and, um, when I used it with my first client, it terrified them because like you guys were saying earlier, it's not a one-sizefitit all. You really need to take a deeper dive into the person that you're serving at the moment. You need to see what actual benefits are they receiving because none of them are the same. All of them have different rules as far as you know work tryyouts and income disregards. So you have to really deal well dive a little deeper to see if the person is just trying to make some temporary cash. Are they really looking to advance their career? And if they are really ready also you could say you want a job but being ready for a job that can advance into a career are two totally different things. And the last thing that we want to see happen is someone reenter the world of work just to have all of the courage it took to take that step destroyed if there's a termination or for some reason they experience a chronic illness and have to return back to where they were. So, what I like to do personally before we even take out the tool, let's have a conversation. Let's talk about you. What are you trying to do? What are your dreams? Are you trying to go back to school? Where do you see yourself in 5 years, 10 years? From there, I can make an intelligent decision on if the moment is right to actually use the tool or if we should probably just maybe do some more skill development or maybe there needs to be some financial management put in place. Also, once the decision has been made, the first thing I want to do is look at what um benefits you're receiving. And then I need to do my homework to make sure that the calculator which is going to show you a snapshot of the future does not intimidate you because there are work trials. There's the six-month income disregard for New York State. And maybe with a little financial man management, proper planning, we could build a nest egg for you to where once the benefits are gone, you could transition into full-time employment and never look back. Thank you, Terry. Um, it's I'm like I'm so happy this is recorded so that we could show this to all the other coaches in the platform because what you're highlighting is that the math is so individualized. So people always say like, "Okay, what point? What's the wage that you're going to hit a cliff?" And it's so different for each person. It's not just the math that's so specific. that conversation looks so different depending on the person's situation, but their goals and their ambitions and being able to really center that conversation around a client's goal and ambitions um can take what is really understandably intimidating and can feel like an impossible conversation and just open it up to um opportunities and and next steps. Um Alicia, you've also been doing a lot of work um with the Louisville Urban League. We've been working with the do for the past year, the Louisville Urban League got out first thing I think since 2022. So, um it's been it's been a minute. Um and uh both working with with clients on the ground, but also in your role really thinking about how as an organization you're incorporating um incorporating these conversations into your work. Um, so yeah, I would love to know more. Why what why did the Louisville Urban League why did you choose to prioritize benefits cliffs and how has um how has it affected your ability to help the folks that you're working with? Okay, so benefits cliffs are important to the work we do because it is the greatest barrier to our mission uh to move families from poverty to self-sufficiency. Our mission um assist black people and other marginalized individuals with economic and social equality. Uh our efforts are not just about placing people in jobs. They're they are about creating pathways to sustainable wages because people have the right to take care of themselves and their families. And this is about building generational wealth and closing the racial wealth gap in Louisville, Kentucky. We can't in good conscious encourage people to go up the success ladder, the career ladder, and not address the traps that are set for them along the way. I've witnessed several occasions where a client has enrolled in one of our training programs, completed it, worked hard to complete it, gain employment only to lose their Medicaid or their SNAP benefits for an hourly wage that wasn't even really worth uh losing those benefits. Um, the benefits cliff is a powerful break. uh in economic mobility. It forces people to make decisions that um seem like they're being stagnant. It's like stagnation. Um when clients calculate the benefit of taking a supervisory position that will cause them to maybe lose their child care subsidy, the rational choice is to to decline the promotion. And we can't for as an organization we cannot force people to go up the career ladder if the rungs are financially unstable. If we push people to h higher wages without warning them of the cliffs that um makes people lose trust in us. And we are an agency that uh advocates for trust and um for people to be able to take care of themselves. Yeah. I mean that trust is so is so key to be able to have these really hard conversations. And one thing I've always admire about the Louisville Urban League is just these ongoing relationships that you have with clients. Um, I'm thinking of one client that we had the opportunity to learn a little more about, Miss Joyce, who um, when we first had this conversation around benefits, cliffs. She was understandably like, I can't risk losing my benefits right now. And she decided not to take a job that she was really excited about. And um, in the end, she actually had a medical emergency and that those benefits were allowed her to like live. Um, so she made absolutely the right choice for her at at that moment. But because you had these ongoing relationships with her a year later, you were able to have that conversation again and things looked a little bit different and you were able to figure out like okay, what is a job you can take and um while maintaining the right amount of benefits while and also still pursuing your uh those career goals and ambitions that they had. So just always appreciate that about you all about that that intentionality in terms of how you're bringing it up but also those continuous relationships and trust and how that really opens up opportunities for folks. Mhm. So, we no longer just do career coaching. We connect people to financial empowerment counselors that are trained in our organization because it's not just about that salary. It's about a household. So, we we review the household and not just that salary, that holistic approach. Benefits cliffs are certainly one one barrier, one part of this like larger picture, this larger process. Um, so I hope from Terry and Alicia you could see how powerful coaching and transparency can be even if it can be scary to do. Um, how needed it is because these are already choices. People are already making these choices around their benefits. Let's get some facts and information and plan ahead. Um, but we also know this doesn't solve the issue. Still, at the end of the day, there's this cliff and this impossible or really hard choice that they're making. Um, so Stacy, I'd love to hear from you. What are some things happening in New York State policy level? Um what are some of the things that you're working on and is there anything that's particularly um particularly promising or that you're excited about? All right. Thank you so much. Um yeah, there's been a lot of work lately um the last few years in particular uh focusing on where there are benefit cliffs and really working that into the uh structure of potential policy changes. Um, as we all know very well in this room, there are very unintended consequences to slight shifts in policy. So, if public assistance changes one thing, you have to look at what'll happen to SNAP. You have to look at what'll happen to Medicaid to child care. Um, so we're starting from that standpoint. I mean, we did implement some budget changes in 2022. So, we changed the income test. So again, part of why I'm so grateful for those of you helping explain these to people, um, because it's pretty tough to explain to a lay person, you know, oh, but we eliminated the gross income test and the poverty level test, but don't worry, it's a needs test now. And they're thanks, but actually that does functionally really make a much more tapering effect. Um, I think one of the best tools we have, honestly, is income disregards, but as we were discussing offstage, they're one of the most complicated things to explain to people. So, one of them is a very recent one uh implemented in December of 23 uh is that 100% earned income disregard that gives people six months without us counting uh their income for public assistance. and we crafted it. So, uh it's not counted for HEAP either. Um then there's 100% disregard for qualified educational and training programs. So, that's really exciting. Uh folks get that opportunity to ramp up their skills and their training. Um and then we have our stock income disregards of 64% uh from earned income and then minus another 150. But again, hence the need for those of you to explain it. I mean, I'm sure folks are following, but so we've also changed resource limits uh for PA recipients, so we now go up to 10,000 so that hopefully folks can save up some money. I mean, it's tough, right? I mean, it's it savings is often a dream, but if folks can um there are exemptions for saving up for school, for cars up to 10,000. Um we're factoring it into the structure of new benefits. We just got one rolled out in uh November 5th, actually, the baby benefit, which is provides uh $1,800 to parents who have a baby while they're on public assistance. So, we structured it as a one-time payment so that it wouldn't hit other benefits, so it's not countable for SNAP. We're calling it an emergency. There's an immediate need associated with having a brand new baby. Um so that's a good example of factoring in um you know other programs into our structure our structures and then we're doing a lot of more experimental things. Uh we're trying to allocate we were given uh money in the prior year's state budget uh for the child poverty reduction initiative which hits upstate uh cities and allocates money to do some research on um direct cash transfers and uh varying forms of cliff mitigation strategies. uh and we brought on a uh evaluator so that we can get some rigorous um evaluation of what's happening there. Um and I think one of the major items we did um again thank you to New York City also for um facilitating all these wonderful direct cash transfer programs and uh the evaluation of them. Uh so back in 22 a law was passed that allows us to exempt a lot of studies. Um, so if any of you have studies in progress working on benefits cliffs, uh, make sure you, sorry, in advance, HRA folks, connect with HRA if you're in New York City and see about getting an official letter submitted to our agency so we can do our best to exempt them as income and resource for any of our programs. Um, so yeah, those are some of the tools we're using, some of the many. It's so exciting because we hear um NI have some done amazing work with the income disregard bill and the fiscal cliff task force that they're hoping to get passed um this year and it's so exciting to hear all the different initiatives that are happening and I think what you're highlighting is that there's a lot of ways to help mitigate this problem for people. How do we make it a little easier? The flip side is that it does sometimes then add layers of complexity to the process. um uh but how can we mitigate it because eliminating it is is doable but might require some more bigger system truly shifting the system uh holistically. Um so how can we make this a little easier for folks right now and then also when we're creating new programs how can we make sure we're considering benefits cliffs and not accidentally making things works for worse for folks because we're not considering the impact of benefits. Um Rebecca, you I know you know a lot about what's happening across across the country working with different states around the different um different policies that they're implementing to help remove this barrier. Um so yeah, I would love to hear from you. Um what are some of the things that other states are are implementing and um are there any right now in this unique moment that we're in, are there any unique opportunities or challenges that you anticipate? uh states facing as they're implementing them? Yes, great question. Uh one that's not easy to answer quickly, but I'm going to do my best. And so just for a bit of context, let me share about what APSA's been working on in the last year. Um we put out a benefits cliffs resource hub and policy dashboard. It includes an interactive dashboard tool that demonstrates policy changes that 11 states in the District of Columbia have put forward over the last 10 years in their areas in their states and the District um that have been shown to mitigate cliffs. Um but we didn't stop there. We also included some state profiles that uh show a little bit more of the contextual information of what was going on in the states that brought about those policy changes over time. um things like who were they collaborating with, how did they fund these changes, how did they elevate community voice and leverage that to um bring people along, how did they work with legislators, what initiatives were going on that were driving these changes behind the scenes. So we interviewed the 11 states in the District of Columbia, administrators in TANIF, SNAP, Medicaid, child care, housing, and other programs. We scoured the internet and looked through lots of reports and compiled everything we learned. uh put it into this resource hub and tool and made it publicly available on our website. When I think about changes that I'm seeing the states make as I think about what we've learned through all that research, um you know, we see policy changes, we see changes to the frontline practice, we see changes to culture. And I think I'd bucket it and I've seen it bucketed in three ways. Uh so the first is um when we think about um how to transition off benefits uh slowing that transition down. So like graduated phase out approaches um transitional assistance, grace periods if you're earning new income before eligibility is reassessed. um if you're transitioning off of multiple programs at once, uh having you graduated do graduated phase outs sequentially rather than simultaneously for those programs. So that would be bucket one. Uh the second bucket that we see is increasing eligibility limits. So that includes asset limits like Stacy just mentioned in New York. Um we also see income disregards there if you're going to disregard certain types of income when determining someone's eligibility for a program. And then the third bucket we've talked about already quite a bit individual co individualized coaching and those benefit cliff calculator tools. So a lot of states have developed their own or they work with leap fund uh the Atlanta Fed they predict you know looking at the formulas for all these different programs where would a family experience cliffs um leveraging technology to help predict both for the individual who's going to be making those transitions but also for case managers or coaches who can help them plan for those transitions. When we think about challenges, I mean, I'm sure it's old news and kind of just run-of-the-mill, you know, we all know that we have political environment and fiscal environment that we need to navigate. And so, if you don't have top- down leadership, if it's not your governor's first priority to address benefits cliffs, like that might change how a state approaches uh the work that they're thinking about for the next three to five years, even one to two years. Um and then fiscally, like we've had on this stage lots of conversation about HR1 or the one big beautiful bill act. Um the reality of changes to the way that states are um doing the cost share with SNAP and then the changes to administrative funding and SNAP al just those two alone have really changed the fiscal landscape for states budgets. And so that might change how much experimentation they're doing or where funding for pilots might be going etc. Um but there's a lot of opportunity. Um so three that come to mind. The first is framing. So benefits cliffs is a hugely bipartisanly supported topic to focus on. Um we see that uh both sides of the aisle have identified that benefits cliffs are a policy failure. And so finding language that really speaks to that um the whole audience that you're speaking to. So some frames um fam uh it people are making rational economic decisions for their families. Benefits cliffs are a barrier to work. Mitigating benefits cliffs reduces government reliance on benefits. These frames are proving to be really effective for different states. So getting framing right. Uh the next get employers to the table. A lot of states have councils, committees, workg groups that they're building across sector, cross program, bringing people together, include employers because when we see that employers are coming to a state's administration and saying, "Listen, my workers won't take additional hours. I need your help fixing this." That can really fuel the fire for a conversation. Um, and then the third, I'd say almost every state that we've talked to is intentionally including community voice in uh the conversations that they're having, but also bringing in those compelling stories, but creating those feedback loops, making sure that they're hearing from the families receiving these benefits, like what has your experience been and really learning from them. I'd lift up Colorado and Washington, two states that have um like family voice councils, uh groups of people who have been receiving benefits in their states that are providing recommendations on policy and practice in their states. Oh, thank you so much, Rebecca. And we're certainly seeing like the unique challenges of this moment, but also like the momentum around benefits cliffs right now. Like it's so exciting to be here having this conversation, even seeing from the crowd how many people are familiar with benefits cliffs. people have been experienced them or have received benefits. This is always something they knew about, but this has really become more of a national conversation, which is why this dashboard that you're that you created is really exciting so other states can see and learn. Um, and I yeah, I love that that framing bringing employers in and making sure to bring the voices of people who are impacted by this. Um, there are it's easy to get people easier to get people around the problem of benefits. So when you come to the solution space is where things can be a little divisive. The easiest way to get rid of benefits clips is to get rid of benefits, but we obviously don't want to do that. Um it's how do we make sure we're creating opportunities and pathways for folks and that we're removing benefits clips in a way that does that. Uh I have so many more questions for everyone in the everyone on the panel, but I see we're coming close to time. So I'd like to close things out with a lightning round. Um Terry, I will start with you this time. Go that way. Um, our final question in 30 30 seconds, can you share what's one thing you'd want the audience to keep in mind or act on after this panel? Okay. I think the most important takeaway from this is that benefit cliffs could really dissuade someone from taking that leap and become self-sufficient and re-entering the workforce. Um, I've seen it firsthand. If you give someone just a little cushion and a lot of support, they will definitely surprise you and become more than even they could have imagined. Yeah, I would love for you all to know that you have resources at your disposal that can help you bring ideas back to your team, help your own learning, or start thinking about how to build momentum for system change in the areas that you work as it relates to benefits cliffs. I don't know if you all are like me, but when I'm in your shoes listening to things up here, the details get a little fuzzy after a few days. And so we have put all of our learnings online so that you don't have to remember the details. You can go check them out. So I would really explore or I would encourage you to explore the resources. Go to leapfund site. There's tons of resources there. Check out APSA's resource hub uh and figure out what's your right next thing. Is it reading an article that was recently put out about benefits cliffs? Bringing an idea back to your team. Reaching out to someone with a question. Um we cannot afford in the employment and training and workforce development space to go another five years where our leaders and practitioners are not aware of the issue of benefits cliffs. All right. I would like to stop interpreting rational survival choices as a lack of ambition. Whether you whether you are an employer, a policy maker, or a service provider, stop expecting people to navigate a broken s system. Redesign compensation models. Advocate for phase outs of benefits instead of stopping them immediately. Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely. People want to do the right thing and I am so frustrated with that those assumptions people make that folks are not making rational economic decisions when they make a decision to prioritize child care and housing and benefits. Um but I would extend the people want to do the right thing to many policy makers. Right. Um, I think what I'd ask folks to do or one thing I'd like people to take away, um, is people want to do the right thing both from the policy side, from the coaching side. And the more we connect and keep having these conversations, the more our advocacy can be um, logical and push for things that don't inadvertently create cliffs. So the coordination in advance of advocacy can be really beneficial. Um so that we can make sure that those implementing and those uh affected by the policies we create are not uh are really woven into the process throughout. So thank you. Thank you. And thank you so much Terry, Rebecca, Alicia Stacy. Thank you for taking the time to come in, share with us your wisdom. Um, my hope is that we all walk out of here more aware of this problem and more committed to the solution because everyone here really has a a role to play. Um, okay, we've got a question from the live stream. Um, do New York or New York businesses um uh um advocate about benefits cliffs? Are there Yeah, are there people in New York who are advocating around benefits cliffs? Um I don't know if I could take part of that certainly. Yes. Um there are definitely uh large employers who are advocating around benefits cliffs. Um there is a project in the works that I actually can't say very much about right now. But there are there is um some very active work going on right now to bridge employers um training programs and the policy makers to craft uh better solutions to benefits cliffs and to increase opportunities with employers. So there are some good conversations happening. Yeah, if we had a whole other hour, I know that's kind of the one voice we didn't get to dive into as much is how employers are impacted by benefits cliffs, but it's something we actually saw in in Kentucky in Louisville. Um, how much the employer, as you were saying, Rebecca, how much they drive a lot of the policy work that's been done there. Um, so I'm happy we could give even a moment just to to to talk about some of that. Um, but yes, thank you everyone again. um really hoping that we can all bring our voices together and build a system that doesn't punish mobility but actually supports it. So, thanks everyone so much. Welcome back everybody. Welcome back. I'm Mike Gross. I'm the executive director of Genesis Works New York City. Hope you all had a great lunch. I have a question for you. Raise your hand if you have posted uh on LinkedIn or Instagram or some other social media platform yet today. All right. All right. Okay. This is the only time you are going to hear this through the entire conference, but please take your phones out right now and if you haven't posted yet today, you you've got some directions up there. We want to get the word out. We want the mayor elect to hear how important these issues are to see how many people are showing up. We heard Greg talk about this earlier today. We have a huge online audience today. Great panels so far, and we want you to talk about that. So, please put your post up, tag away, and we'll go from there. As we launch into the afternoon sessions, we turn to a question that defines New York's future. How do we build growth that includes rather than bypasses the communities that need it most? What happens at the intersection of workforce, community development, and economic development shapes neighborhoods for generations. And the leaders in this upcoming session have spent their careers working to ensure that growth reaches people, residents, workers, and families, not just institutions. Our next session is called building inclusive growth, where community workforce and economic development meet. Please welcome to the stage your moderator Ralph Ortega and speakers Teresa Gonzalez of Bolton St. John and Marco Carion of the Consortium for Worker Education Center. Oh, hello everyone. It's a pleasure to be here. I'm Ralph Ortega and u I'm very happy to welcome our two guests today. uh Teresa Gonzalez of Bolton St. John and Marco Karion of the Consortium for Worker Education. Uh welcome both of you. Thank you. Great to be here. Thank you for coming today. Um well uh our fireside chat this afternoon will explore how three key sectors community workforce and economic development can better integrate their efforts to ensure economic prosperity and growth are shared and inclusive across New York City. The core idea is that economic success requires a unified approach that connects neighborhood needs community with training and job access workforce and overall investment economic development. Our conversation will focus on how inclusive growth emerges from the integration of these three sectors. How do we get there? How have the city and previous mayoral administrations encouraged growth? Will the incoming administration have the willingness and knowhow to push for growth? Now, having said that, I'd like to just invite Travis and Marco to weigh in on some of those questions I've just mentioned. Um, uh, let's see. I think, uh, will this incoming administration be willing to kind of explore this or invest in this? I think the answer is yes. I think one of the things that happens in the conversation around community development and economic development and workforce is that they're often times thought about separately, which I think is a mistake. And I think that um most mayoral administrations understand that. So there's always a a very intentional, for example, when I was worked for sorry friends. when I worked for uh Mayor Bloomberg, he was really committed to kind of making sure that those were intersected by founding the Center for Economic Opportunity, for example, which for some of us was the first time we thought about all of those things together, right? So, I think um everybody's talking about this priority around affordability. I think that um there's certainly an eye toward how we connect all of those things. I think it's a smart thing for him to do. Um, I think that we should continue to kind of expand on understanding that there are intersections here that are going to require real effort and real investment. Um, and the sooner we get there, which we haven't yet, right, as a whole, as a kind of a a city, um, I think the better positioned we'll be to address to actually make some major significant changes. Yeah, I would, you know, I would argue that the promise of the incoming administration is growth. The change is growth for who? Right. Historically, growth for the city has been for particular sectors, folks who u the management class, folks in the fire sector, right? But for those people who I've represented, right, working people, the people who live in rent control buildings, rent stabilized, apartments, nicha, tenement buildings, the folks who are shift workers, union workers, they have not seen that growth. And I think the affordability agenda, which the incoming administration has run on, is to create more opportunity for those families to shape the futures that they're looking to shape. So when we think about growth, I think it's always important to think about who will be impacted, who will benefit, who will not be exploited, right, in order to benefit others. Um, and I think that this incoming administration has been really masterful in talking about that in a way that most people understand innately u but is not a way that seems antagonistic to others. Um, a lot of talk and now the focus is on action. Um, and uh, the Adams administration has done a couple of things and we're talking about, you know, setting up our community for growth. Um, so one important aspect of that has been their focus on converting city properties into housing. We just saw uh, 30 gold, I think it is, downtown across from the bridge, from the Brooklyn Bridge. Uh, and um, that's going to create several units of housing. However, at the same time, the Adams administration is not really favor, you know, aligned with the Mandani administration on like the example, the whole issue of rent, you know, freezing rents. Um, so there's there's not a lot of help there. Uh, but there is the promise of hopefully more housing. Do you will the Mandani administration be able to over you know, get over those hurdles that have been set up? Do you see enough uh do you see enough uh expertise coming in with these transition teams that are going to like unravel some of the uh you know the blocks that have been created to prevent him or to stop him from uh trying to accomplish what he wants. And I mean the whole issue of free buses for example. I mean um I forget what the latest uh suggestion was for uh but the focus of has predominantly been on reduced fairs not giving it away. They don't want to give it away. Um anyway I' I've said enough. Any any any feelings there on on how they can overcome these hurdles? Yeah. I would argue that um a lot of the push back has like truly been political. Um I think this administration is speaking to larger truths, right? That you have folks who cannot afford to uh to work to take jobs. They get to work on time because they don't have access to high quality universal child care. That they can't afford to get to work. they're late to work because they can't afford to take the bus. They don't have, you know, food um or they live in, you know, areas that don't have supermarkets or or access to fresh food because of the lack of, you know, high quality food sources. Um they can't pay their rents, right? And the answers they've given, I think, resonate with people because they're they're really simple answers and challenge what previous administrations have said which is you know we accept that these are these large existential uh problems but you know we'll we'll get to it at some point right so they've given us direct answers now whether they can actually accomplish those things in the way they say they can remains to be seen I think they're going to do everything they can both politically um and you know policy wise to do that. But I would just argue that anyone who pushes against that is not doing it because they are, you know, some kind of pragmatist. They're doing this because they've benefited from the from the status quo, right? I mean, how could you argue against someone getting to work on time or having someone to take care of their kids who's qualified to do that or someone having food on the table? Um, I just think that in this type of society that's pretty hard to push against. Yeah. I mean, I think it's fascinating to watch the transition from campaign Manny, right, to mayor elect. Now, campaign Mami was very inspirational, right? He pushed the limits. This was not business as usual. It everybody was surprised, probably including him, right? Um, and I think a lot of that was intended to signal that like we're not okay with the way things have always been. So, in that way, I think some of the promises that he that you heard him talk about, um, it's less about the actual execution of those and more about we are going to walk in and we're going to shake things up, get ready, right, and and come with us on this journey. Um, and you're seeing that happen. I mean, moving from a a candidate to mayor-elect does mean letting go of of some of your idealism, right? So, he's got to be much more pragmatic. Um, I do think that he intends to shake up shake up the system in so far as things are not working anymore, the way they always have been, have not been um or have stopped working. We've seen that in who he's chos in my opinion who we've chosen who including Marco who he's chosen for the transition committee right I remember looking at that list and being like who are all of these people I've never heard of them not that I know everybody but like I was unfamiliar with most of that list um and that's because he was really intentional with bringing in new fresh ideas and people who are willing to take a chance on those things so there's that that's happening I also think in just want to address the the housing and whether that's going to actually be able to be solvable is one of the things you know I think the benefit here there are two things happening one is right before he got here we had something called city of yes right which was a previous administration's kind of commitment to you know adding more housing to the stock and is in process he's not stopping that so he has that kind of leeway to to to think about and to play with what that initiative really meant to do which is do can we loosen in some regulations here. Are there ways to transform spaces that we didn't expect? You know, I think he can build on that. He was a supporter. Um, and I also think that he has the benefit of, so he has that as a benefit. There's already a framework for thinking about housing differently. Um, it just so happened to be the previous administrations. Um, and then the second thing is it's really clear that he is relying heavily on the Delasio administration to to kind of set the foundation for his or help him get up and running, right? He's got Dean Foulahan now as a first deputy mayor. Couldn't get you couldn't get much higher than that besides actually bringing in Mayor Delasio himself. Um, so I think I think those things position him to directly address those things. And then there are the idealistic kind of parts of him like you know not uh beholdened to real estate. And so how do how do we actually work with real estate here to do things like build more housing stock and bring more housing stock? How do we partner in spaces like cultural arts and culture to build more stability uh you know around people and jobs and and quality of life. So the good news is in my opinion is I think it's no status quo. there's stuff to build on already. And then I also think that he is really open to listening listening, which hasn't happened in a bit. Um to what people need, right? And determining whether he can actually put people on it and get it done. There was a breakfast that I attended where he literally said, "I'll take, you know, three or four questions and answers and then I want to sit and ask questions." And everybody in the room was just like, "I don't know what this any of this means." Right? um we're not used to this. We're used to kind of being the drivers of the agenda. The the questions are prescre um he sat there and just listened to people for about 30 minutes. Um good start. Good start to actually thinking about how he addresses some significant issues in the city. Perhaps that's how he um uh found a friend in the White House. Um yes, but um I we were discussing before coming on stage. Uh my concern is that I think at some point you're going to see the rug pulled out from underneath him 100%. Because this uh cordial relationship he now has with the president um gives us a sort of false sense of security because the president can't, you know, it's just a wild card, right? You never know when he's just going to turn around. I think he does understand or he does he he doesn't want to acknowledge it that there is an affordability crisis and that to be effective in New York he's got to be friendly with Mandani to appeal to the the electorate that supported him. So you have one populist supporting another populist right now. Uh but does that that that I don't know if that's going to translate into community development. Um the three sectors that we're talking about today, you know, coming together to deliver on growth. Um so, you know, again, just something to keep your eye on as this transition continues, right? Um you both spent your careers rooted in community and building power from the ground up. What's a moment early in your ear uh early in life or early in your work that shaped the way you think about community opportunity and whose growth should serve? Oh my goodness, it's a tough question. Yeah. Um, you know what I I just want to say on the before I get to I guess a memory on the Trump piece, I mean I don't think this while he's very amiable and affable and I think a lot of things that maybe we're not used to from the previous mayors, I I don't think this mayor elect is naive, right? I think he knows exactly who he's dealing with when he goes to the White House. And I think that he is trying something with someone who he knows and I think we all know has a large ego and is easily charmed, right? But is also very material. Um but I think that um you know that there's a lot of planning being done um in case the rug is pulled and I think the expectation is the rug is going to be pulled right and I think that a lot of this is how long can I keep the rug from being pulled. Um but you also see the president doing the farm bailout talking about afford affordability. I mean, thinking about the holiday season where people are going to really, you know, both in preparing food for their families, but also buying gifts going to really see the results of the tariffs and his desire to build an economy purely out of the tariffs. Um, and the farm relief is because of the tariffs. That's right. That's right. That's a band-aid. That's right. That's right. I think, you know, and it it goes, you know, for me and going back to your your question. So, as a memory, I mean, you know, I um you know, born and raised in New York City to to you know, parents from New York, one born in Puerto Rico, one born in the city, but both raised here. You know, my father was um a Marine, Vietnam era Marine. um got out of the Marines, becomes a school teacher, first person in his family to go to college, puts himself through college, becomes a a public school teacher, and in um you know the early really early to mid70s gets laid off like 16,000 other school teachers because of the fiscal crisis of the city. Um and was laid off because he was a recent hire as a school teacher. um you know was you know first fired you know last rehired right and so I grew up at a very young age you know in the late um you know mid to late 70s um as a child I'm talking like four years old five years old of you know of a in a house when my father was out of work and you know my parents you know were on public assistance and and you know that happened to a lot of people right but a clear memory I have is going with my father to um the unemployment office, right, to get the benefits and seeing how he was treated, right? Seeing how he he was dehumanized, seeing how someone on the other side of the mirror window was treating someone who like when you were a child, you know, your parents are like these demigods, living gods, right? The things that you who controlled your life. And seeing someone disrespect your parents has a real profound impact on you, especially at that young age. And it really made me have an aversion to government, which is funny because some folks may know I spent seven years in the Basio administration. But you know, and taking that job, it was because I believed and that that had been my path to get to that point to then say, how can I form a government that doesn't treat people like that, right? That is more humanistic towards people and understands that everyone has their own story. And folks like my dad who served this country, right, who did all the right things was still pushed aside, you know, because of, you know, not because of his own doing, but because of malfeasants of, you know, those in control of this city and their finances. So, I mean, that's, you know, an early story for me. Yeah, I feel like it's a a collection of experiences. Um, I grew up in a single family, you know, single mom. First to finish high school, let alone go to C. Like, what what are you doing? What what are you doing next going to college? Um, and so it became, as it normally does when you're a child of a single parent, kind of a mission, right? I have to do this. I'm keeping, you know, keeping my family uh keeping their pride in me if I continue to do this. And what I what I really discovered, the turning point for me where I decided to actually say um I I want to use my p what I call my powers for good, right? I'd worked in city government was understanding that there was not a connection. A I come from Williamsburg and um there were years and years and years that Williamsburg was being developed and the residents that were there were not considered in this development. Right. I still live there. Um it is a very different place than what I remember. Um and the sad part is um it has become kind of this poster child for what happens when you don't do smart um development, right? Smart development, smart city planning, smart all of these things. The intentions were good, terrible, you know, um result. And I think since then obviously um other projects, similar projects have been taken on and they're better. But Williamsburg remains this kind of shell of itself in that the original culture, the community, the real community and and the benefit I was going to make a joke about how it's dangerous to have two Puerto Ricans on the stage together. Um, but the bene cultural benefit of where I think I'm s I'm assuming where we come from is that community is really meaningful um for so many reasons. It's not only important that we have representation. It's important in helping to raise our children. it's important to home paths to home ownership, right? Like community development is really meaningful in communities that are oftentimes left out of that process. Um, and so for me it became a collection of experiences that led me to here starting with I live in this place that I love that nobody else wants to live in and now everybody wants to live here. Um, and my mother has moved away. Um, so like there's that, but there are also times in city government, for example, where, you know, I I saw very little Latinos who occupied any space of leadership. We always have a conversation about Latinos and advocacy, Latinos and coalition building, and it's like, yeah, yeah, we can do that. We can also lead stuff, right? We can also uh provide guidance, strategic guidance. And so there was a little bit of like, let me let me show you what we can actually do, right? that that entered my ethos for a while. Um, and then I think continue to see people like Marco just like kill it. Um, you know, he was at El Pente, most recently my my home from when I was growing up. Before that, he was at CAU where I was chief of staff for many years. Was following the SRO. Yeah. Literally. But but watching kind of the progression of for a minute it was just me and then it was me and Marco and then it was me Marco and this person and then it continued has continued to be an inspiration to like keep going what what's the worst that can happen right you know and I'll just add you know I brought something interesting um about development and we talk about community workforce and economic development in Williamsburg is that you know there were so many things done in Williamsburg and now in Bushwick that were meant to revitalize a community. Um, I would argue that the community was never involved in those conversations. It was a very topdown process. Um, but also that when you talk about revitalizing, when you talk about development, it was really mostly about infrastructure, housing, parks, and what have you, not about where people buy their food, where people congregate, where people dance, right? All these different things of meant to be a Puerto Rican in Williamsburg. You were now someone who may have good housing, right? but you don't know where you're going to buy like the clothes you wear, where you're going to see the movies you watch, where like all those other things. So, it's actually not really a home anymore for for all those people still live there. It's just a place where you have a bed and you sleep. Um, and that's, you know, as you know, a former head of at Point a tragedy. I think that that's what this is really getting to. I I just want to add something just because Williamsburg is a good example. And yet when we think about community development, we think about coalition building, the birthplace of that in New York, right? El Pente um was in Williamsburg. And you see how important it was when it was founded, how it gave voice to people who are often times marginalized and who were in the midst right of kind of the very beginning of this gentrification wave. um uh and how it really inspired people to stand up for their community, right? So, organizations like El Pente were so important because they gave voice and they taught people what it meant to be advocates or what it meant to advocate for yourself or or to to just kind of be a part of the process or demand to be a part of the process. Um if you look at leadership, Latino leadership throughout the city, there's less and less of that. There's still incredible organizations doing the work, but you know, now you have people who have kind of grown kind of done the full spectrum of growing into being an elected official, growing into being right the head of something, and that connection point is is lost often times. Um, for example, I the one thing I always watch for when there's a new administration is where's your Latino deputy mayor? And we've had this discussion before. There was a moment in time in a previous administration where there wasn't one and there wasn't intended to be one and it was a very c very curious thing for us because we had 40 years of having representation at a leadership level. Um didn't happen last time until it was demanded. So, you know, I think part of that kind of growth that we talk about, and I realize that we're talking about specific community, but it's um import an important lesson to learn from is, you know, um kind of forcing the envelope in terms of representation, but also um being a signifier for why community development is important, why uh training, workforce training is important, right? why uh and what happens when those things are not embedded in community development. I think Williamsburg is a really good example. There are other communities that are I think the the South Bronx is probably next on the chopping or feels like it's next on the chopping block and um it they just happen to have stronger leaders and stronger and a lot of wonderful history. Um and we in Brooklyn, it was very early on we didn't have any of that. But all of those things are connectors to building strong community, allowing for growth. And I think those are lessons that we can learn as as a journalist. I mean, I uh have had uh the good fortune of uh studying revitalizations and uh and becoming uh attached to certain stories and um you know, I I and as a New Yorker, I I just never uh felt I had a role in creating community and contributing to growth. Um uh however, as a parent, uh who lived far away in in rural Pennsylvania for a while, um I there I learned about volunteerism big time. I mean, and it wasn't just one volunteer job. It blossomed into a suite of uh of different tasks, you know, a food bank, you know, cub scouts, communities there where they have less infrastructure really learn from the ground up. Uh starting with the family unit. Um that's what I discovered. um as a journalist here in the city, I um then now just I'm following all kinds of different um community evolutions. Uh Coney Island, Eric Adams is leaving Coney Island with so much money to uh add housing and um my cons I think that's great. I've always thought but I've always but I've been concerned lately of Coney Island because of all the new construction that's going on there. they're targeted for gentrification. I can see that happening there even far-flung Coney Island. Um, so I I love to hear more from the from from both of you on, you know, what do strong communities provide culturally, socially, economically that policymakers and developers consistently undervalue or overlook? Yeah. I I question you know it's funny while you were talking and you were talking about the difference you saw in Pennsylvania and New York I I think it's I think that does happen in New York. The thing is it's so densely populated it's hard to see that right and there's so many different neighborhoods but I know I mean sure so many of these folks in the audience concentrate the work that they do in a particular community and they see that network that exists especially in communities that have been uh either underinvested or disinvested or forgotten right they've had to really build these networks um of of community leaders, of CBOS, of of small business owners, um you know, some elected officials, community boards, and to to provide where the city has forgotten them. And I think that, you know, when I think about the government's role, you know, you hearken back to the mid60s and LBJ's great society, right? and thinking that it was, you know, maximum, you know, feasible participation from like the kind of like ground up, right? That there was a belief that in order to get at the root of poverty, to have a really war in poverty, that those who are actually on the ground doing the work, paid or unpaid, right, the kind of neighborhood mayor, like they understood what could be done. I you have your community action, you know, uh programs and those things that started Head Start and other and job court and other programs. I mean, that was kind of like a thought once upon a time of how investments could be made. Obviously, the war on poverty, at least the war on drugs and the war on crime, right, which is a whole other story for another panel and probably why so many folks in the workforce development space are in it now, right, of kind of the after effects of that war. But, you know, I think that like that is often forgotten. So, when people show up, right, they're not showing up to folks who just been sitting on their hands, you know, and just waiting for, you know, the boss man to save them, right? That they've been saving themselves, right? Because, you know, with the belief that no one's going to save them if they don't do that. Yeah. I mean, um, I want to answer your question, but by switching to kind of more practical solutions, right? So um public private partnerships for example important um part of the work that I do oftentimes and some of you will probably are probably beneficiaries of this um but uh involve you know having clients who who have the means right oftentimes corporate clients and figuring out ways to pilot programs that allow for support and resources to flow to communities that are actually doing the work right so rather than thinking about you Let's say corporation A, I know that I'm working with corporation A on building their community relationships. One of the things I start to think about is that's cute. You want to build relationships. What are you investing? And here are three things you can invest in right now. And here are the three organizations that can help you get there. Um, and can help you build that, right? So thinking about uh public private partnerships as an integral part to community development because that's where the resources are. We can't expect government to do it all, right? It'd be fabulous if that happened, but like there's so much to do. Um, and we have corporate partners in this city who quite frankly are existing in communities that they need to be investing in. Um, and I I firmly believe because I do it all the time and so does Marco. There are ways to do this where you're not compromising your values. You're not selling out your community, right? This is called public private partnership for a reason. So like for me that's an integral part of community development and growth that's practical. I know who I need to target because they care about this. Let's pitch these three programs that might really benefit from their funding. They get visibility. This program gets off the ground. People are served and here we are. Um that's one way that I think one thing that I think we could we should certainly lean into more often. Um because the willingness is there and so is the funding. It's good to know that there are willing partners out there because well, we make them be willing. How's that? Um gosh, I wish we had more time. Um I want to just go right to our our our final uh question, talking point. Um uh well, this was our final talking point about Mandani. I don't want to move beyond that. I'll I'll ask this. If you could ask the entire ecosystem in this room, community groups, workforce providers, labor partners, employers, policy makers to do one thing differently to advance inclusive growth. What would that be? Um, my god, you do so much. I would say allow for innovation in the work. I think oftentimes, you know, you're working, you're serving populations that are high need and, you know, oftentimes that's for at least 30 years, right? For some of these for for some organizations that are service providers and have been for a while. Um, the ability to pivot when needed and to also integrate what the political and social landscape looks like and how that affects your ability to to serve, I think are super important. um organizations that are used to doing things a certain way are just trying to survive quite frankly. And so there are blinders on to, hey, maybe we need to consider that we're going into a a political climate where we're going to have new everything, right? Um how do we capitalize on that? How do we become a part of that conversation? Are we a part of that conversation? Um, but I think the ability to allow for innovation and and allow space for things like political strategy, right? Things that that in general uh service providers are not expected to be thinking about because they're working. Um, I am generalizing because there are people in this room who could run circles around me. But I will say that um there has my the challenges that I've seen with uh working with service providers in particular is that there's not a willingness to change or to be open to change. And so my ask would be let's get creative about how we're capitalizing on this next administration and how everything right now from federal on down affects your ability to be a effective service provider. Marco. Yeah. I I love that. I think be flexible, innovative, curious. I mean, what I would say is different from that, and I totally agree with that, is to hold folks accountable, right? I mean, and I tell my staff to do that all the time as we prepare people for the workforce. Are we We're definitely holding those folks accountable in the in the in the classes of programs that we fund and run. That's the easy part. But are we holding the employers accountable? Are we holding elected officials accountable? Are we holding our funders accountable to be equal partners? And I think that um you know it's tough because we rely on those sectors to keep us afloat, but it's it's crucial in order to actually have the most impactful world that we can create. Quick day one, what do you want to see the Mandani administration do? uh have a full leadership team. There's a lot of work to do, people. There's a lot of work to do. Listen, we need universal uh child care. You know, you have both, you know, good paying good paying jobs, uh children that are cared for, and people who can then live the lives and have and support their families the way they need to support them. So, universal child care is the number one priority. Teresa and Marco, thank you very much for coming today. Thank you. Thank you everyone. You All over. Good afternoon everyone. And hello. Hello. Wonderful. Wonderful. Hi everyone. I'm Sher Zad Langlade, CEO at WPTI, Workforce Professionals Training Institute, and want to share a little bit about the work that we're doing with AI. First, a little bit about WPTI. Most of you will probably know us. Our mission is to make sure that anyone and everyone delivering workforce development services in the city, whether you're hyper local CBO or a multi-service, multi-sight institution, that you'll have the knowledge, the tools, the support, the confidence, the resources, and the best practices to achieve your missions and help New Yorkers access meaningful high-quality work in New York. And so, for 20 years, we've been providing professional development, leadership development, capacity building services. And of course over the last two years a question that comes up constantly is what are we going to do about AI? Where does it fit? Is it a threat? And we appreciate that these are questions you brought to us and you've brought to other partners as well. And we know that it's not just the question of AI. It's just that there's so much overwhelming noise about AI. Who do you trust? Right? When you're watching CNN and you're reading an article, how do you break that down into what it means for your organization, your community? So there's no shortage of those articles, of those webinars, of those pundits, of those futurists telling us that AI is the next industrial revolution. At the same time, we have the same telling us that AI is going to devastate our communities. What we really want to make sure is that workforce development as we grapple with this and approach this that we appreciate this is a very overwhelming time for a lot of reasons, but this new top new technology offers and adds to that overwhelm. So yes, we know that AI can have can and will have the potential to unlock expansive opportunity. And yes, we also know that AI has the potential to deepen inequality and inequity and create harm. So our goal at WPTI has been to take this huge intimidating topic and provide practical rightsized offerings and solutions to you all as providers. And this is what we've heard, right? Everyone agrees AI is here. And also pretty much everyone agrees that we're probably not ready for what this means for this moment. We've heard I don't know where to start. We've heard I've started but is it the right place? We've heard am I doing enough? Am I doing too little? So we know from surveys and focus groups that your staff are using AI. You probably know that too. I hope that your participants many of them are already super users of AI. um some of them for workforce development purposes like resume development and interview prep, but they're using it in every aspect of their lives. And philanthropy boards and partners are increasingly going to be asking us or asking you, what's your AI strategy? What are your AI safeguards? How are you assuring that as you integrate AI, you're doing so through the lens of ethics and safety? So, we had a what we thought was a brilliant idea. uh WPTI, we reached out to our friends at the coalition and to Jobs First and we said, "You're probably getting a lot of these same questions. So, what if we all three came together and created what we are calling the AI guidelines and you're going to see this QR code here and I'm going to ask that everyone take out their phone and download this. All I want to see is phones. I just want to see phones looking at me." Okay. Um and we created these guidelines to be really practical, valuesdriven. It's an 18point recommendation. We're not going to ask you to do all 18, but we wanted to really be thinking of if you are that small hyper local CBO. It's going to give you some one or two things that you can do to start working or thinking about AI. And if you are that very sophisticated institution, it's also going to give you probably something you haven't thought about that you can do to make sure that AI is safely and ethically integrated into your environment. So, the questions that you'll see that we try to respond to in our um in our guides, how do we use AI ethically and equitably so we don't unintentionally harm communities? What are good governance policies so that AI isn't an ad hoc uh occurrence in our environments? How do we prepare practitioners to understand, apply, and teach our participants on the power and the purpose of AI? because it's going to show up in their hiring processes and it's going to show up where they work. So, our providers, our practitioners have to know how to use these tools in order to then train the generation of workers that we're hopefully placing into really great jobs. So, we hope that you know WPTI is your partner in this for very real and practical support. And again, my invitation to you today is simple. download it, use it, look at it, talk to your teams about it, break it apart, call us if you have questions. But we really are hoping that this is a starting point for those of you that are that are at the starting point and for those of you that have already started, that it gives you the next best step to consider on your journey for AI. So, because we know that AI will continue to move quickly, our responsibility is to ensure that it moves with us. and we are about to join into a panel and I'm excited to invite my co-panelists Caitlyn Brazil, Dr. Lisa Volandorf, Leak Kazwick, and Rob Demansky and our moderator Justina Nixon Santiel for a really dynamic conversation around AI. All right. Hello. Hello. We actually were in a very robust discussion in the back. Um, but we heard all the remarks. We actually did. Yes. Yes. But we were talking about all the AI tools that we're currently using and I was sharing that we're using across, you know, all of the functions of IBM. We're looking at process um processes. We're looking at workflows. Um we've really just I think touched the tip of the iceberg. Uh so there's a lot to discuss today. I mean as uh we're all aware AI has really transformed and changed how we're thinking about the tech workforce and we have to consider what does that mean from access to tools, access to skilling, how do we support our communities, how do we work at the university level as well. And then how what does that mean for the workforce overall? How are we looking at entry- level roles? how do we think about pipeline as well from entry level to higher level roles at our businesses. Um and overall it's you know it's a huge shift for us. um whenever I have conversations uh people are usually either in the nothing is really happening around AI to apocalyptic right and I think we're in the middle right we're we're in the middle where um you know there's a lot that's going to happen and with any new technology there's a transition period but we always see that it involves uh creating new jobs creating new solutions creating new opportunities so we're actually going through that transition period Now, so we're we're going to jump in because I think in the higher ed space um it is really the backbone right of um an AI era workforce development um plan. So want to talk to Robert and Lisa and have you jump in and talk about in higher ed what structural changes you know are you seeing whether it's uh curriculum credentials partnerships how professors are embracing it how students are embracing it um you know what are you actually implementing to prepare learners for an AI career so either one of you could jump in first so I have the privilege of being the president of Empire Empire State University which is New York's only first and only I like to say public online university. So you can imagine that we should be leading in this space and I feel that we are with regard to really reimagining teaching and learning. Uh certainly reimagining as we all are our operations. Uh for us, our holistic student supports are critically important and really leaning into our classes that are all designed to be taught online so that we can continue to really up the game with regard to how students data literacy, information literacy now also includes AI literacy. And one of the biggest changes I think that's happened in education uh in places where it's being done correctly is that all of us certainly at Empire have embraced AI as a tool for students to learn and for them to learn to learn. And that really I think is the the biggest way that we can be making a contribution in education to really acknowledge that the college experience but really any educational experience should be about sparking not just curiosity building knowledge and skills but also building the adaptability and the curiosity that are needed to be a learner not just of today's technology but of tomorrow's technology. Yeah. And just staying there for a moment, a lot of un not a lot but many universities are also looking at either blocking AI tools or limiting AI tools, right? If you think about how you assess knowledge of students or um having professors embrace it and uh bring it into their curriculum, how are you managing that? Are there very specific examples you can share on how you're enabling your students and your professors to embrace it in an intentional way? So we have brought real intentionality to our professional development program and we ha we did a full last year at the very beginning of the school year a full week of AI boot camp for everybody at the institution and I think that that really set the tone for you know you can block it if you want but you're not blocking people's use of AI and the other is I find it interesting that many people don't even recognize that when you Google you're using AI. So we're all using AI. So just you know live with it and learn to really integrate it. I think just in the same way we are operationally integrate it into our way of being so that we can understand it and understand then what learning comes from reflecting on the integration of AI into assignments into curricula into certificates and skill building so that we can consistently and continuously never get ahead because I don't think that's possible but at least have a culture in which we embrace the the technology of the today which will encourage a culture of learning for tomorrow. Okay. So, Robert, what about you? How are you looking at um changes, curriculum and so forth in this AI era? Sure. Um and by the way, uh thank you for having me everyone. It's a pleasure to be here. Um so about a year and a half of half ago at Hunter College we did an internal survey and despite what I think there's an assumption about with you know about higher ed about faculty a year and a half ago we discovered that over 70% of our faculty were already using generative AI in the classroom right and that really opened our eyes because we realized this isn't a matter of trying to get buy in or like incentivize adoption in any way. Our faculty are ahead of the curve and already doing this in the classroom, right? And that kind of made us pivot to what is our actual problem definition like what are we trying to address? And so one of the things we did um for the past year or so uh we created this is kind of a long-term play. uh it's a train the trainer model where we saw the importance of running an AI boot camp for faculty right now we wanted it to be faculty-led facultydriven we don't want to be too prescriptive and heavy-handed in giving directives what every instructor needs to do so instead uh through our center for teaching and learning on campus um we ran this AI boot camp for faculty a couple of times at this point and as of today we've had almost 60 faculty go through it. It's a multi-day workshop to not only create AI policy statements on their syllabus, but also to design and incorporate a generative AI project into the courses they teach. And so through this through the almost 60 faculty that have gone through the AI camp at this point you know you start doing the math uh we've directly incorporated AI and AI projects into just through this one program alone um right nearly 200 courses and at roughly 20 to 30 students per course you do the math and it adds up we're now we've institutionalized it we're now running this camp on a recurring basis uh every semester and the goal is Again, we want faculty to figure out what they think is most appropriate for their course and their students, but we're trying to train them so that they feel empowered and have the knowledge set to be able to do this in an effective way. So when you think about um what corporations are are looking for from a skills perspective um and faculty there's some faculty that may want to um understand how to assess the knowledge and skill set of their students knowing that they still need those AI skills to be able to get a meaningful job right in in today's workplace or the future workplace. How are your professors thinking about assessments? Right? Because as someone who has two kids in college um and they they uh urgently reached out to me a year ago and said, "What is the password for LGBT?" Um um really want to understand how how do you think about uh assessing how a student has obtained the right knowledge in a topic area with their use of AI? How are you thinking about that? Well, I don't think it's any different from how we think about assessment in general. I think that uh just as other tools have come along in the past decades, I mean certainly during during all of our lifetimes, this is another tool that we know is available to instructors and students alike. And I think that it is incumbent upon us at educational institutions to really uh fully integrate the uh the fluidity uh the fluency with the technology into everything we do. We certainly have general education requirement now around AI literacy. But I think that the the biggest the bigger um the prize for me is really will our students have the skills that they need to have uh better employment. We serve students aged 14 to 89 at Empire State University. So our students come to us across the four generations of life looking or of of living humans looking for different things. So they have different goals and my my prize my north star is are we meeting their expectations and are we helping them get to the next level. So for some are career changers some of them are coming to us straight in high school obviously if we have uh 18 and 19 year old graduates now sometimes from Empire. We have people who have different goals in mind. And for the 19-year-old, we definitely know that we want that person to not have to go to a really low entry-level job, which PS may have evaporated today because of what's happening with AI, but really is prepared for a rapidly changing, rapidly evolving workforce. So, we have a very clear eye on career outcomes that align with what the goals are of our students. And I think that to me is is really the marker the gold star for how we would really look to assess. So we and I I'll stay on higher ed um for one other question and before we move on um when we when we assess skill sets of um workers or you know when we look at at hiring um there are the the the tech you know uh understanding AI literacy uh tech literacy that's needed but there's also all the what I consider to the to be the power skills right collaboration presentation skills um how do you work with others How do you problem solve? So, how do you how do you assess that or bring that into the curriculum as well so that your students are prepared for that for for the workforce? I mean, I would just say at Hunter, we definitely look at this through somewhat of a direct workforce lens. Um, in terms of I agree with you completely that in terms of assessing the content content knowledge of a specific course or topic, we assess as we traditionally do, right? Uh but when I what I think is really interesting is when it comes to what are the AI specific skills that employers are looking for in hiring right like we've heard from employers when they're considering two candidates with similar types of qualifications but one knows how to use AI to accomplish tasks and the other does not that person is getting hired increasingly like every time. Yeah. And so when we try to figure out, okay, what are the AI skills every single student needs before they graduate in order to land an internship or land a job, right? I mean, it starts with, you know, very specifically, uh, we want every student to know how to use Microsoft Copilot because it's embedded in all Microsoft Office applications, right? Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. That should be a no-brainer. And frankly, that's not only for like entry- level positions. Almost everyone in the workforce today. If you use Microsoft Office, you should know how to use some of those embedded tools like Copilot. Um, and those are the types of things as a baseline. That's just a starting point when it comes to becoming more of a like power user and like really have those second level skills, right? That's where we actually take an approach where we start becoming more discipline specific and it's going to look different in different like occupational sectors and um for different types of roles. But again, we're trying to lean on our faculty, lean on some of our industry partners to inform what that needs to look like in the power user sense. Did you have anything to add? Okay, good. Mindful of time. Yes. Um so uh Caitlyn and uh Sherzad I would love to um further understand how you're looking at community impact around AI. You know what is a moment or insight that made it clear that expanding who works in tech requires changing how people enter tech in the first place? So what are your thoughts on that and what are the what are the models that you have implemented or you've seen that are working? Sure. Um, and thanks so much for having me. Uh, actually, it's it's great that you're asking for a moment or insight because it it it occurred to me a great moment or insight uh here in this building. So, I I was actually here just a few weeks ago and I got to see one of our alums uh Ismael Fana uh be interviewed by Nicholas Kristoff, which was incredibly exciting. And he was a young man who had come to the US from Kat Devoir, spent 10 years really struggling working as a dishwasher. Um had had amazingly learned English uh but was really just struggling to survive. He just two months ago started his career as a software engineer at Accenture. And the way that he did that was by coming to Priscolas for our tuition free training, moving into an apprenticeship with a partner that we have called People Shores where we were training, he was getting paid, he was supporting Accenture clients while he was doing that. and to see the look on his face when he talked about nerding out on the software applications that he's now working on and the passion that he has. That's the kind of success story that everyone in this room is looking to create. But I have to tell you as I was sitting there listening to him, what I was thinking about was the decade that we all lost. That this brilliant person was not developing new applications, was not influencing the technology that we all get to use and get exposed to every day. And we know that there are literally millions of Israel out there right this minute. You know, we now see AI as table stakes in every single one of our courses. So foundational productivity understanding the use of AI is embedded from actually even in our application process. We've also integrated AI tools into the learner experience throughout their journey for each of our different career paths. And you know, to your point, Robert, really giving our learners hands-on experience with the occupation specific AI tools that they are likely to be using on the job. But I can tell you the most important thing that we're hearing from employers and from our alums themselves is it's less about learning to use a tool and more about rewiring the way you learn and work. And so it's it's a practice more than a knowledge base. And I think there is tremendous potential for us as a sector to really rethink the way that we deliver education and to start integrating tools in that experience in an entirely new way. I love that. I I I don't know if you want to jump in first. Yeah. Follow on. I mean, I'm first I'm just so excited by everything that's already been shared and your great questions and also thank you to IBM Skills Build for the incredible platform that you offer to so many of us. Um, from a community perspective and I'm going to zoom out a little bit, right? Because your question is very specific about people working in tech. Um, and we are the ones that through the v variety of programs offered are preparing people to go into tech, but to go into many other types of jobs where technology is increasingly a significant way that they do the work. And so they may not be in a tech job, but they need that fluency, that literacy, that um mindset of being a lifelong learner, right? It's not just I know how to do this and then I'm done. And I think that's really a lesson and it's wonderful to hear that all of these examples are being lifted up. But as Caitlyn was saying that we have to look at that for ourselves in workforce development that if we hold the responsibility and people come to us and believe us when we tell them like come to our program and you will be able to get doors open for you to help you get on that path to economic self-sufficiency. Then we have to have a workforce, right? All of us in this room and many of your colleagues that understand these tools. So the AI boot camps that you mentioned, you did Rob, we did something very similar at WPTI where we all did internal training for ourselves to understand the mechanics of AI. We did I IBM skills build. We also just did an AI learning lab where we had 15 providers come to us and we said what's the pain point you want to address with AI? uh and we had a variety of things come up. So folks were in a training classroom environment. We have a technical partner that understands the technology better than we do. We understand workforce and some of the things that came up where uh a government agency or provider developed an app to better assess um potential employer partners and they work at a volume and a scale, right? And so the one-on-one outreach and is this going to be a right business partner and can will it yield openings that maybe we can place people in, they're working on an app to really expedite and um streamline that process. We had another one of the providers in the group that realized they had a process uh that was very manual and analog and it was taking them 44 days, business days out of a year to do this. And so by the time they would get insights, the insights were outdated. And so they're developing um an AI solution to again help streamline that process. And I bring those up as two examples because all of that supports maybe some operational excellence and efficiencies that we need to see in workforce so that we can really start to pivot then to what needs to happen in the training room because our practitioners need time and space to become more aware of what the power of AI is where it exists. Again to your point uh Dr. priv like it's everywhere already how they want to use it. Organizations need policies about that use so that there's some guard rails but we have to be investing in the workers of workforce to make sure that they are if they're on the front lines of preparing our community members for the next level job. They have to know how to use AI and they have to know how to train and teach the power of AI to others especially in AI in an AI augmented uh workforce. How do you stay on top of the acceleration of AI? So I I I mean I I you don't you don't I I can tell you last year I you know we we focused a lot on AI virtual assistance and AI ethics and responsible tech and we started this year on oh no we've now moved to AI agents and a human may or may not be in the loop and what does that mean for your work and if you're going to be a manager of AI agents what types of training that you need to be able to do that. So in your roles focused on community and training, how do you how do you look at the uh evolution I guess of of AI which is so rapid and make sure you're staying on top of what's needed for your training programs. Um I'm happy to jump in. So uh it's hard but the one I think uh critical approach is we can't do it by ourselves. So um we have an AI strategy. A lot of the things that have been elevated are a very key part of how we're thinking about how AI will transform workforce. Um, we have an AI working group. So, we have leaders from big tech. We have providers on that working group to make sure that again we're looking to take all of the things in this universe and boil it down and synthesize it to say what does this mean in the context of workforce? And because we have such diversity in where workforce exists at a university, at a Priscolas, at a variety of other institutions like what's practical. Um, but if there was one thing I would say, workforce development has to start being in it, right? You don't have to know all the things. You don't have to try all the apps. You don't have to become the expert, but you have to start experimenting with it to understand where it will apply and be beneficial. Okay? You know, and Justina, I have to say I I remember about a year ago, maybe two years ago now, sitting at a conference and hearing for the first time, okay, we need to really think about leadership development so that managers know how to manage a team of humans and bots and thinking like, what what century am I? How did how did I get here? And now I can tell you that we have agents that are part of our curriculum development literally. So, um, I think part of what is helping us to stay ahead in terms of content and curriculum is, you know, we have a really large network of employers who hire our grads and have a lot of opinions. We've been soliciting those opinions actively, but we're also we're just putting it out there. We're just gathering information in, developing out new curriculum. And part of the way we're able to do this as an organization is that we have, you know, our our immersive model which is full-time designed to help people launch careers. But then we have in partnership with organizations like IBM skills build as well as lots of content and classes we we develop and teach ourselves what we call career accelerator and those are upskilling opportunities and that's where we've been able to do a lot of the experimentation. So, we have a new, you know, AI solutions class coming out in January that's going to help people build agents and create agent solutions. And that was directly informed by employers that we're working with. We'll test it. We'll see how it goes. Maybe we'll integrate it into an immersive class. Maybe we'll expand it to, you know, employers who are interested, but it allows us to really experiment. Yeah. I will say though, and this is going to be true for higher ed as it is true for the workforce system, there are real regulatory barriers to innovation that that do stand in the way of meeting employer needs. And this is important to recognize because this has always been a friction point. But honestly, today, the idea of it taking six months to a year to get a curriculum approved, it is it's just too late. It's changing. Things are just changing too fast. And I think that this is something from a policy perspective that we all really need to focus in on. So, um, staying with both of you, um, so making sure we're not leaving populations behind requires that people have access to free tools to the training. What communities do you think are most at risk? Well, I can Oh, I'll jump in on this one. Share. We doing this in groups of two, but we'll have a solo one soon, right? Yeah, I know. I'm worried about you over here. Um, you know, that's a great question, right? And I think we all look co was a really good reminder for all of us that access to technology and broadband is still beyond the reach of many households. And so then you add the demands and computing power of AI and this is a is a serious, you know, another reflection on the challenge of accessing the technology that people need. We're seeing that even today. I'll tell you as we look at planning for next year, we recognized that we had to upgrade the requirements of laptops that our learners are using because of the AI tools that we're integrating into everything. And so this is real um and across the board. I honestly think that the most vulnerable population right now though are folks who are in roles today who have high exposure to AI and who haven't yet been able to truly upskill. And I think this is a moment where there are many many people across the city who are are in a job that is more vulnerable than they realize and that we as a sector can be thinking about upskilling people while they are still in the workforce as opposed to waiting for layoffs to come. That's what worries me. What are your thoughts? So yes, yes, yes, yes. Um but I'm also the reason I hesitated is um Michael Collins who was on the stage earlier from Jobs for the Future at the Horizon's conference that they did in June. He presented on a report on a study that they did around what communities are actually um quick adopters of AI and um it was African-American community, right? and that kind of surprised the group that was in the room. Um, and he highlighted that it was actually individuals that would be considered more lower income. Um, and so I I pause because I want to make sure that sometimes we may also have biases about who has access or who has interest. Um, certainly there are broadband and technology access issues that are real uh or that aren't as convenient, right? going to the library if that library has laptops that can host and all those things may be an option but is that really accessible probably not uh so I think there are aspects of our community where there's an excitement because there's a realization that maybe this opens up opportunities and access and information in ways that they haven't had access to before. Um I would say and others in this room might be better positioned to speak on this. I imagine you know we have a an aging workforce. Um our older adults are working much much longer and so as they're figuring out where their place is in the workplace um they uh again this might be generalization may not have the technology literacy that some of our younger counterparts in the workplace might have. And so I would imagine that that's another space that um there might be a little bit of marginalization even beyond um the workforce and preparing people for jobs. I think there's general AI awareness that needs to take place across every demographic, everyone, every age level. Um because there are a lot of like we mentioned there are biases. There are ways that people are going to use AI in in not a very positive way, right? It could have a negative impact. So I I look at it as, you know, if you if you really think about AI, the fundamentals of AI and AI ethics that I think everybody needs to understand and know and then you get a bit deeper into what are you going to need to know for this particular role or job or to be successful in the workforce. I think that's important. And if I can add to that, like we're talking about where communities are already maybe marginalized, but I would say the next level or the next wave we have to be mindful of is if we're using AI, are we using the free option or or do we are do we have the resources to pay for the licenses whether it's for at work, our own personal use? Because when you put it into the free option, you are giving it to the world. Um, and so there's implications for that, right? Yeah, absolutely. Um, so Leah, uh, this is just you. Uh, um, so you're building a regional AI hub. Are there things that New York can learn from what you're doing in New Jersey around the hub? And what does crossstate collaboration look like? Sure. So, I think it's um the New Jersey IHub is kind of a one-of-a-kind um endeavor, I think, in the United States in that we're we're an entity that was founded by the state of New Jersey, Princeton University, Microsoft, and Coreweave. And our mission is to think about what are all of the proactive and preemptive investments you make across the state to make sure that AI AI takes off in the right way. meaning how do we capitalize on all the promises that AI brings and hedge against the risks including the risks that we're talking about in this room right and so it is a um it is it is one of 12 strategic innovation centers that the state has brought to bear that are all public private academic partnerships and we were you know you could consider us horizontal and that the other 11 are sectoral aerospace life sciences biotech fintech etc and we're AI right across the board and So, you know, the the way we think about it is how do you make sure every single company, regardless of where they are in their stage in life, has an entry point and advancement avenue in AI and is capitalizing on the tools that it brings and how does every person regardless of who they are, whether they're in the workforce or out of work, K to2 or, you know, regardless of what institution they're in, how do they have an entry point and advancement avenue? Right? So, it's a it's a pretty expansive mission and I I I'm very worried that this is the only entity that I've seen do this. Um this is this is actually the question I I was asking kind of moving into this role is where is the economic strategy like we can talk about workforce all day but you know as as a lot of the conversations have said earlier this is part this is like the core of an economy right and so you know we we think about what is the life cycle of AI right and that includes invention which is the invention of the AI models themselves innovation which is the application of that invention onto every sector that we see in the economy and the priorities ority sectors regionally, adoption, right, which includes workforce and organizational culture and education, and then diffusion, which are what are the social implications of what we're going to see um if we don't do the first three well, right? And so workforce is like the very center of this question. If we don't do workforce right, two things happens. One is all this innovation, which is, you know, at at this level, right? If the adoption is here, we're going to see a huge valuation bubble that will, you know, create an economic bubble that we'll all kind of feel the repercussions of. And and if we don't have workforce adoption, what you're also going to feel is inequality growing and all of the kind of displacement that we expect to see if we don't do something very serious here, right? And so you know the the type of things we're doing include like on the R&D end you know we've been named one of two hubs in the world that will have access to Microsoft's R&D uh agentic discovery platform which accelerates the discovery of molecules and material science and capitalizing on you know bio R&D really being centralized in New Jersey right then uh thinking about you know how do you support startups everywhere from preede all the way to maturity in their life cycle and bring talent to also build not only to go into these sectors that people are like can only envision specific sectors to go into and then how do you work with K to2 institutions and higher ed institutions to bring all of them together to have these really really difficult discussions that everyone is facing currently on their own and and build the kind of rooms where we're having those discussions together and then most importantly how do we do upskilling and reskilling at scale and those are the hardest questions to crack and so we're we're thinking about what are the innovative models that we could pilot and then if we do well and learn from them How can the state then adopt them and fund them over time? And how can we do all of this with an eye towards packaging what we learn and making sure other states can eventually learn from them? Because inevitably we're going to have to have these kind of entities across the board and we're not seeing enough of that. And then just you know and then of course we're thinking about infrastructure you know without AI compute without data collective data action we're not going to capitalize on any of the potential of all this. So we need like real investment in the foundations on the infrastructure here that in New York right Empire Empire AI is is super important on the R&D end but how does it tie to workforce right this is not being like put in a system um and then and then we also have you know this hub which is a co-working space but we also do all of these like workshops and policy discussions so there's a place to go where no matter what day it is you know that you can come in and learn about AI or have these really important conversations about what we're doing to prepare for this moment. So, leaning into policy here, um, are there certain policies that you guys are pushing or shaping with with the work that you're doing with the AI hub? So, we're not a policy shop because, right, we're not government. I mean you know we are we are funded by government and government you know is a stakeholder in us but we are in a sense understanding what are all of the market gaps that currently exist across the state what would be required to fill it if there are models that work how do we scale them if there's a gap in the market how do we bring to bear the right solutions test them so that then if we know they work policy can then take its place and of course like there are places to have policy discussion but I wouldn't I think we're policy makers. Okay. Okay. Got it. Um so for the last few minutes, um I'm going to throw out a couple of questions. Feel free to jump in. Um if each of you could redesign the tech workforce system, everything from training, hiring, credentiing, partnerships from the ground up. You threw everything out that we're doing today and say, "I'm going to design this." Probably this is going to take a lot of time, but let's see what we can what we can get quickly. Um what would you build, right? And how would you measure success? What are the things that would be extremely important and urgent right in this uh new system? And um you know how would you go ahead building it? So feel free if anyone wants to jump in and share their thoughts. I'm happy to jump in. I'll try to be quick so that we can hear from everyone else. Um I mean if we were able to design a new Yes. Uh so there's a couple things that come to mind, right? Um, one, the people that do this work, I think pay them well, appreciate them, train them. That goes without saying. Um, two is similar to the approach, Leette, that you were mentioning in Caitlyn, like really allow for experimentation in the system. um we are living through a period where the jobs right AI is not taking jobs per se but the tasks it's really more like a a resizing and a rescoping of jobs I think of um the Walmart Walmart CEO who says like there are 2.1 million workers uh every job will change because of AI but they're not going to reduce headcount so that's a good thing so experimentation because we're in a space right now where we're not exactly sure what the next wave of work looks like um and it may look very different. So to allow training providers sort of that space for experimentation for trying for input from participants about what they envision in their future lives. So really those types of investments in that learning um investments in the human skills the power skills that you mentioned because while AI might take some of the routinized work what's becoming or will become even more valuable and in demand is how you're able to communicate and demonstrate your human skills those communication problem solving. Right now that's not really embedded in workforce development as much as it could be or should be. And so what does that look like and really investing there. Um and then I would say also and this is something workforce development has tried to do and wants to do is really thinking about the incentives for bringing business to the table to help support those training pathways um so that we know we're training for an actual opportunity versus we're hope hoping that there's an opportunity at the end. And certainly many providers have been very successful in doing that. I'll stop there. I have more ideas, but I want to do Well, what I would say is we don't have to go back to the drawing board. Public education is should be the bedrock and we and can be can be better and always should strive to be better. And we have K through 16, preK through 16 public education in the city, in the state of New York. And we have models that can be flexible and innovative and forward-looking and are hampered. I I not only will admit but I will say that I stand by my colleagues uh cry for more less less bureaucracy that is slow in a time when we really need to be fast and flexible to drive equity and to make sure that the digital divide doesn't continue to uh become wider but actually that through our public education system we can continue to narrow the gap and the model that we have at Empire State University is not just one of helping people complete, not just one of helping people reskill and upskill, change career, but also as one where we partner with uh corporations and unions and industry and including Northwell Health's uh new Queens Health Sciences High School to give people an opportunity that they probably never would have thought they could have from the time they're freshman in high school, knowing that they they can be career bound, collegebound, and they will be getting the skills over time that they need to to be strong contributors to their families, their communities, and to the workforce. Robert, yeah. Um, so two quick things. Uh, first, in a pure, the question was on tech workforce development. So, in my experience, you know, a lot of times the focus of that tends to be on software engineering because those jobs are better paying and whatnot. Um, so frankly like through my eyes from what I've seen, uh, you know, generative AI, one of the supposed, you know, job paths that's going to be eliminated by AI are software engineers and people who write code. However, I can tell you that like I have a 14-year-old at home who can use Catchy PT to spit out some Python code. Mhm. My kid thinks he's a genius and then it's like jump don't burp. Uh but then once the code is on the screen is like how do I actually run the code? How do I actually you know deploy it and like put it on a website? And so I think this is just kind of a shift away from you know the focus had been on like writing code from scratch. Now it's going to be on uh editing code just frankly more what happened in the workplace anyway. and an increasing importance almost more demand for uh architecture for designing computing architecture rather than on pure coding. Yeah, the demand for that is actually increased by how generative AI can spit out code real quick. I I'll also say I you know I love the question of if we're starting to develop a system from scratch. I mean you know I think a lot of people in the room certainly not everyone's on tech workforce. So like in whatever sector people are coming from, it's it really is it's exciting to me. I smile when I talk about this because this is the once in a generation like transformational moment, right? where you know every 20 years something new comes along that really throws it all up in the air and it's literally like the people in this room the future leaders and workforce in the city in the country even who this is these are the people in the room who are going to build based on this transformational moment and I think my fear always when I think outside my role and just for the city in general is we should all make sure we're not missing the moment right and just lean in to in whatever your sector is going to need, right? Build that system, right? This is the time. It won't come around again for another like 20 or 30 years. By then, I hope to be retired. So, like this is I view it as like this is it. This is the big thing we're going to h hang our hat on and let's set it up. It's a huge opportunity, a huge moment. It is. And maybe just to to double click on on this opportunity concept. I mean, you know, I think there's a moment where employers can shift from being sort of passive shoppers for talent to builders of talent. And you know, when I look at I saw a report a couple months ago that 94% of entry level roles are requiring at least one year of experience. 85% are requiring two years of experience. As my 10-year-old would say, the math is not mathing, right? Where would one get this experience? And so, I think that there is a real opportunity for us to take the work that we've all been doing on skills-based hiring and really rethink this question of, okay, great. If AI tools are shifting the job in real time and every employer needs to sit down and understand what do I actually need out of a person on my team and what are the things I need them to do versus what I have a set of tools that can do or augment. This is the moment that we can also start to rethink what are the skills and experiences that they would have had to to do before coming into this workforce to be able to accomplish those tasks. And I think this it really is a time where we can start to kind of break apart pedigree that are, you know, a check mark on a degree and an x number of years of experience and instead think about competencies and how we build those and demonstrate them for employers. And that includes AI skilling, but that also includes critical thinking. I mean the the biggest barrier that we've heard to implementation of new AI tools in many of our employer partners, it's actually the business analytics. It's really understanding the problem that you're trying to solve. Right? That's not a purely technical skill. It's an adaptive skill. It's one that we can all work to develop and it's something that you could actually measure and that is not really influenced by having a degree or a number of years of experience. Exactly. Leah, any last thoughts on this? I mean, I just think this is an opportunity where, you know, it AI will expose everything that has been wrong with the system in from in the first place, right? In inequality, the fact that lifelong learning is not really taken seriously, the fact that education can't keep up with the market, the fact that supply and demand are completely divorced from one another in our government structures. All of these things need to be rethought in this moment. And there's opportunities to take advantage of the fact that everyone's kind of worried about this moment and understands how how you know we really need to rethink the the the way the systems work together to to think about new structures and and how we do things. I really think we have real opportunity and I thank you to this esteemed panel. This was a great discussion. Um I hope you were able to get some insights, some ideas, some thoughts on how we need to move forward with AI and workforce transformation. So, thank you so much Come here. Good afternoon. Can you hear me? Great. Okay. Welcome everybody and good afternoon. I know we have some people leaving, but um I'm hoping you stay for the last panel, the final panel of the day. I am Helen Kogan. I am the executive director of Empower New York and New Jersey, and I have the honor of launching our final session of the day. And what a moment to end on. All day we've been exploring the pieces of the workforce and economic systems that we want to strengthen, to redesign, and reimagine. Now we turn our attention to the big question that sits above it all. What comes next for New York? This is a city in motion politically, economically, and culturally. We are standing on the edge of a new chapter. And the decisions that we make now will shape not just our programs or sectors, but the very systems that power our neighborhoods, our industries, and our people. This is the part of the day where we zoom out, think boldly, and ask ourselves, what kind of city are we prepared to build. And to guide us through that conversation, we have a moderator who understands New New York's economic engine better than most anyone else. He has spent his career navigating the realities of business, community, and policy, and knows exactly what it takes to grow meaningful to make New York grow meaningful for real people. So, let's end this day the way that New York deserves, with ambition, with imagination, and a clear eye on the future. Please join me in welcoming our our moderator, Randy Pierce of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce for the next Yes. And the panel is the next New York, building the systems, industries that power neighborhoods and people. Welcome, Randy. Good afternoon. Hi everyone. I'm Randy Pier, president CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and we are the last panel. I understand I was going to make So we're the closer, right? So I was I had a whole Edwin Diaz joke planned for those Mets fans that are in the audience, but we can't we can't use the we can't use that joke anymore. Um look, Greg asked me to do a quick little monologue and then introduce our really amazing panel that you know of good friends um representing a diversity of different industries and organizations to really talk about this challenging subject right building systems and industries that we want to see in the future. One of the things that our community and I've spent 30 years doing this work 18 of those years have been directly in workforce development. 12 years have been directly in economic development. And one of the things the holy grail of of the work has been how do we align workforce and economic development strategy and policy to get to the goals that we all want to see happen, right? But I think a new administration, it's a new day. It's going to be a very different uh set of circumstances, but it's always a good opportunity to reflect and re-examine on the structures uh that we have in place uh that we currently operate under. But it's also a good time to look at the assumptions that we generally like to expose to the to the wider community about who is our constituency. So, I'm going to I'm going to start with the constituency that I know best, which is the business community. And the thing we don't say often enough, if at all, is that there are two business constituencies in New York City. There's the corporate business community and there's the small business community. And those communities have very different challenges, needs, and wants. And we build policy though around what we call the business community in a very monolithic way. And I can tell you from experience because my core constituency is small businesses that we generally don't serve that community well. Nor do we really truly understand what are the challenges that small businesses face in in this particular city. Now, that being said, everyone loves small businesses. Think of your favorite bar, your favorite restaurant, your favorite bodega, the person who cuts your hair. We all have our favorite small businesses, and we all like to say, "Oh, they're the heart and soul of our neighborhoods." And they are. But then we develop policies that have been so disproportionately negative in their impact against small businesses and we don't even realize it, but we do it for the right reasons. You know, we want to support, you know, things that we believe are important for workers and that's good. So, we have a new mayor coming in. The five burough chambers spent an hour with him. We talked a little bit about the small business community and what those challenges are. Him coming from an immigrant background understands that many of our small businesses are driven by the immigrant communities. It is the pathway to success and to wealth in New York City. He gets that. He gets it that violations and fines and regulations have been an impediment. I think he gets that there's an affordability crisis that impacts the small businesses too, but I'm not quite sure yet. So, when he puts out universal child care, that's a good thing. That's a small business issue because it impacts the owners and the workers in the same way. We were one of the first chambers to come on board for universal childcare even before it became the policy of choice. But then he turns around and he floats an idea that he has really no control over. But $30 minimum wage that destroys businesses, small businesses. Period. End of story. And the dirty little secret is one in seven businesses have been created since co. That is true. But we never track how many close. You track it in your neighborhoods. You track it down the block. We the chamber track it on a micro level. But that's the one government data point that we don't ever really have available talk about and that's a problem. So hopefully we will convince the new administration that we need to be transparent and honest in terms of how policies are impacting the small business community, not just the corporate community. Because the reality is much of the legislation that came out of the city council over the last 10 years has disproportionately impacted small businesses in a negative way because the corporate community already meets the standards. Okay? And I can I can go down the list and it's not just wage related fair work week laws, wage transparency laws, you name it. All of that adds cost to small businesses. Layered in higher rents, higher insurance costs, higher workers comp, and it's almost impossible to run a small business in New York City successfully. All right, that being said, we've got a panel of experts uh that are going to come out and sort of talk about this intersection of industries and neighborhoods and what this all means for their particular sectors. I'm going to invite first out my good friend Andrew Ridgie of the New York City Hospitality Alliance and I'm also going to invite out Leah Rambo from Nontraditional Employment for Women. Come on down. It's like the price is right. Come on down. I also thought that we didn't. All right, Andrew, I'm going to start with you. We were arm- in-armm during COVID. Indeed, we serve a similar constituency, although yours is broader citywide and a little bit more defined than mine. Um, here's the question. What's the most misunderstood fact about your industry right now? Oh, most I think people like during the holidays people want to go to this really really popular restaurant. They can't get a reservation and they think, "Oh, wow. Like the restaurant industry is crushing it. They're doing so well." But I think what people don't recognize is there's more than 25,000 eating and drinking establishments across the five burrows. And if a couple hundred of them are always busy, what about the 24,000 other ones that are really struggling and face a lot of challenges? It is tough to run a small business, particularly restaurant nights, weekends, holidays, places are always closing. And it just seems to kind of piggyback on what you were saying is everyone always says mom and pop businesses are the backbone of our community. And so often many of the same policy makers who sing that and I think believe it unfortunately introduce policies that make it more and more difficult for those exact types of businesses give us an example to survive. Um well you mentioned you know a proposed $30 minimum wage which is great in theory but for a restaurant paying you know 40 to 50% of their annual sales to labor costs it's unsustainable. And what ends up happening is the entry levelvel positions for people of all walks of life, many of whom may not have opportunity elsewhere in the workforce, get shut out. Those are the first jobs that get cut. Those are the first jobs where things are consolidated into a higher level position and they're pushed out. And without getting too much into the weeds now, there's a lot of workforce related regulations, federal, state, city, that conflict and actually make it more and more difficult for people to get the type of workforce experience they need to get an increase in pay, to get an increase in experience and hire jobs. And I think what we saw, I think you referenced the pandemic, was it was incredible to see what happened when government got out of the way and started actually providing support. Like good things can happen in very difficult uh scenarios. And um you know, I always say we can't just talk about it. We have to be about it. And we need policies that are about it. All right. So misunderstood is that the rest all restaurants are not killing it. Even though we like to eat out, even though we like to do takeout, they're not killing it. They're struggling. Uh, and a lot of them close, right? What's what's the average? You know, people say 70% of places are closing within the first five years or so. It's so hard to tell because again, this data is really hard um to come by. I sometimes don't know if restaurants are opening or closing faster. Yeah, that's true. Look, when a when a business opens, they got to register with Department of State. So, you have a filing on record. When a business closes, sometimes you don't know it closes, right? There's no one they're giving the key back to and just closing. All right, let's change let's let's switch over to nontraditional employment for women. Those of you who don't know, they're they were pioneers in the construction industry. Um, and you know, Leah, from your perspective, like we expect a housing, we hope to see a housing boom. We hope to see that more and more of a need and demand for skilled workers in the construction trades. But what's the one thing that is most misunderstood about your industry right now? I think we we look at it a lot of times like there's a pipeline problem. And when you look at women, especially when we're talking about black and brown women and even young people, um they're there, they're ready for the opportunity in the con uh in the skilled construction trades. And so to me, it's really more about a a systems problem and to make sure that um as these programs come in that there are clear pathways for people um to come into the programs that they have real support for women when they do show up on the jobs and that um because when they're trained and they know about it, then they come in and they're ready to work. And so the challenge is what happens once they get to the job site. So, it's not the pipeline in the workforce, but I think it's the cultures and the systems that they walk into once you're on the job. Because you can train somebody perfectly, but if as a woman I walk on the job and I'm the every day I'm the only one on the job, then you may not keep me, right? I may not want to be able to stay. or if I get on the job and there's not clear marked bathrooms designated for women or personal protective equipment, what we call PPE, if I'm wearing a harness or vest and it it it's not made for my body, it doesn't fit my breast, well then how do I keep safe on the job? And I so I think it's cultural issues we have within the industry, you know, are we are we addressing um either consistent either overt or subtle type of harassment? these general messages like hey you don't you don't belong here and also um our job site time you know starts I come out of the industry and I remember getting up job started at 7:30 then it went to 7 then 6:30 5:30 starts so is it even safe if if it's a 5:30 start what time are you on the train four is that safe who's going to get the kids ready so I think it's a it's really more about the talent's there but we need to have consistent um enforceable standards that really support a respectful and safe workplace. So, so Leah, you hit on this other question about job quality uh that we talked about uh beforehand. Um so, let me flip it a little for you. Um what are the selling points in order to um to generate interest from women in particular in the construction industry? It's a great career. The money is good. The benefits are good. The work is truly rewarding. Um, it saves you money overall. I can't tell you the amount of projects I've done myself in my home without having to uh hire someone. And and uh and so many times I I gathered a bunch of my my trades women, girls, and and even the guys um to work on a project. It it's it's incredibly um fulfilling. Is there a pathway to the union? Absolutely. Absolutely. I'd say our fiscal year, this fiscal year, every one of our our jobs were a pathway to the to the building and construction trade unions. Great. Yes. All right, Andrew. Yes. Here we go. What's happening on the ground right now in the sectors that you want policy makers to know the essentials so that they can draft policies that are going to be most supportive of the restaurant and hospitality industry in New York? Yeah. real quick. I mean, just reducing, you know, fines. Um, the city should not be using our small businesses as an ATM. Uh, our mayor Alexa says he wants to further reduce fines by 50%. That's great. We have a roadmap of how to do that. Our position has been if a violation doesn't pose an immediate hazard to the public or to a worker, it should allow for a warning and a cure period before any fine is reduced. We got to streamline the permanent licensing so people can get open faster. employ people faster, generate tax revenue faster. We need to support in funding for tourism and events that send people to spend money throughout the five burrows. We need good programs that help get people jobs, experience so they can continue to grow. Um, I mean, there is not a shortage of policies that we need, but there are also things we need to stop. Talking about workforce, there's a state law called the 8020 rule which essentially make it easy. He says a worker can't earn tips if they're working more than 20% or two hours of their shift in a non-tip capacity or they violate the tip pool. There's all this legal liability. But what has happened, it's resulted in restaurants getting sued, paying out huge settlements and damages. And it stopped workers from be able to get the experience they need to grow. Chef may say, "Hey, can you, you know, you're a food runner, which earns tips, we we're sure someone in the kitchen, can you work the next half of your shift um helping dicing carrots and doing some non-tipped work?" And he says, "Well, I'd love to do it, but I can't because I'd be in violation of the 8020 rule." So, it hurts the business. the worker doesn't get the experience and it just creates a very challenging inflexible work environment and these types of rules just should not exist. Yeah. I mean, we've talked a lot about fines and violations and and I think one of the challenges that we saw in the previous administration, well, the current administration was that you try and cherrypick some fines and violations and that's good and you can in some agencies got a pass and didn't reform anything but at least and I think this is encouraging is what we've heard from the incoming Mumani administration is they want to set goals, right? said like reduce fines and violations by a percentage and then you have a goal to work towards not just looking at individual fines and violations uh that may or may not even be enforced. Right. Yeah. What I would say and I imagine in the various different sectors people see that is you need someone in the administration that can break through the permanent bureaucracy. Every time there's a good idea about we want to do XYZ, there's going to be 10 people lining up saying why we can't do something or why it's a problem. And it just needs to stop. Someone needs to be able to go in have the authority to make these changes. Listen to the feedback from the different people, but then make an executive decision say you're being overruled or we support you. But you got to break through the log jam. Otherwise, you're just going to be having conversations. The city council is going to legalize bodega cats, folks. All right. Uh, Leah. Yeah, I love cats. You got you got one thing you want to change to help support your work at new and the industry in particular? What would it be? Wow. One one thing I I think on the policy side we have to think of uh we may be filling on retention uh to make sure that we're looking at retention that one to three year attention retention and also making sure that you know as a as a nonprofit you're working with contractors you know you're you're coaching management employers and sometimes these contracts last for one year so we need to really look at the the longer term of the workers so that we can keep people great and I would I want to had bridge loans for MWBE contractors so that they could actually take on the work and they could also um grow and expand uh just like other contractors. We do a lot of work in the procurement space particularly with MWBEs and a lot of it is just access to capital, access to financing that holds them back. Great. Thank you. Thank you. We're going to invite our next set of panelists to join us and it'll be uh a six-way conversation. Uh first up is Eileen Torres from Bronx Works. Woo! Jane Martinez Dalling from the New York City public schools and Aaron Drinkwater from Metro Health Plus. All right, so we're going to we're invite we invited a few new sectors to the discussion. We thank you all for being here. Uh and look, you truly know what's happening on the ground. So this is really about your experiences, right? And and as we as I as I stated in the opening, we have an opportunity to kind of start fresh and to re-examine and re-evaluate the perspectives that we've been operating under. So u we want we care about your perspectives. We want your perspect, but we want the we want transparent truth about what you're facing. Right? So here's the question. I'm going to pose it first to you, Erin. We'll go this way. Um, every sector needs workers from healthcare to education to community services. What's one strategy that's actually producing student and worker pip pipelines? Uh, and what's one that needs improvement? Thanks, Randy. Thanks everyone for being here. Um, so at Metro Plus, we are owned by the health and hospital system. Um so we employ about 1,600 individuals across um our growth team, our um marketing team. And one of the things that works well for us is we have a very robust uh training uh and onboarding program. We also have pipelines um for career advancement, for mentorship, that all works um to ensure that people are moving through jobs and obtaining skills. And we also have opportunities um with health and hospitals for providers in uh areas that are um in need of uh providers, physicians, etc. to have loan forgiveness programs, which is fantastic. Um, we also have paid internship programs and really often we'll bring back students year-over-year uh to work in different segments of the organization and really understand um the health insurance uh side of the industry. And so I think at Metro Plus uh that is working well. Um you know we are unique in that because we are a city entity about 85% of our workforce is unionized which is fantastic. Um and in an area of improvement, what I will say is is before I joined Metro Plus, I was at the Department of Social Services. Um and in this moment as we are thinking about the implementation of HR1 um and particularly the work requirements. Um it reminds me of the conversations around deserving the deserving poor um and what individuals need to do in order to obtain benefits. Um, and the thing is is that we need to focus our energies to improve all of the supports and structures that make work possible. So that means, you know, a living wage. It means opportunities for high quality benefits, opportunities for flexible schedule, child care. Um, these are the things that make work possible so that way folks across the city can thrive and and that work is really the vehicle for that thriving. Great. Jane, same question. What's working and what needs improvement? Uh, thank you so much for the question and thanks everyone for being here for the last session of the day. Um, we appreciate you. Um, for us at the Office of Student Pathways, we embarked um about three and a half years ago on this bold idea that workforce was an integral part of a student's education. that it wasn't just what they were learning in the classroom academically, but really making having an opportunity to have those hands-on opportunities across all of our schools. And so work-based learning has been the innovation. Um, and I will say with a caveat that it is paid work based learning particularly for our students. Um, we have earned over 30 or students I should say have earned over $30 million in work-based learning opportunities which makes it really meaningful. Um and uh on the policy side, we were able to get with many partners this apprenticeship law pass so that our our students are able to actually go right from high school into an apprentice paid apprenticeship and actually like get benefits and things that are really important to them to kind of keep going. Um so we are really proud of that and really say that it's working. what is not working um which I think I've heard many times throughout the conference is just the barriers that we have to face in order for us to have good talent in our office to be able to do the work to be able to bring in people who are in the classrooms who want to work in our schools and just really simplifying and streamlining a lot of the bureaucratic pieces when you work in government um is what we're really striving to do and we'd love to see the administration help us more with that. Jane, I'm gonna tee something up for you because I love it. The Steam Center at the Brooklyn Navyyard that's working. It is um it is an innovation that we think is incredible and we have one in Brooklyn and we have one that we just launched in the Bronx and the qu and Queens is like at our heels like get it done, get it done. Um, but we think in terms of systems change, it's a really incredible opportunity, but the the real systems change is to really have many many students have these work-based learning opportunities and to be the pipeline for of talent for New York City because they're right here in our classrooms, right? So, it doesn't all have to be that model, but there are different ways to get to to that. Yeah. And I think Lisa earlier had talked about um Northwell Health and Sciences. I mean really just honing in on talent and honing in on the skills that kids need to be the sort of future of the economic fuel engine of the city is really important right but those I I will say and and I did a very brief spell spent all my life in New York and all my life in Brooklyn except two and a half years I was at in Reading Pennsylvania the steam center model is actually quite common in other parts of the country. That's right. That's right. And I know a lot about Amazon and Reading Pennsylvania having lots of Dominican relatives. Okay. Um um which is and I joke about that but I think the other piece and we may get into this later is it is really important to make sure that we are tapping our communities to see like what it is that they need and what is working for them because if we were having those conversations about Reading Pennsylvania and Amazon perhaps we would not have you know as many people leaving our cities as opposed to really kind of working to have them stay here. Good point. Um Eileen Bronx Work's doing a lot of good creative work in different sectors. So what's working? What isn't? Yes. Um so certainly for us I think um you know nothing profound, right? What we do know is that what works are these education and vocational training programs where you really are trying to combine the two, right? So providing some ba basic education and literacy and numeracy um at the same time providing vocational training um and that seems to work. Um also sector-based training programs where you're really working collaboratively with employers who are sincerely interested in hoping to connect to uh people who live in the community right where they're where they're at. And uh so you work with the employers to really develop a curriculum in these high potential sectors, right? Very often, you know, for us is healthcare um given the number of hospitals that are in the Bronx. Um and so you really work to try to develop a curriculum that's tailored to not just the um participants, but obviously that's teaching the hard and soft skills that are needed for those positions. Um in particular, we do have, you know, it's new to us. Um, other groups might be might have been doing this before, but it's new to us. And we've been fortunate to have a number of young people pass through and obtain their certifications. And almost half of them have already landed positions within the medical institutions. And the the hourly rates are at the low end, it's $21 an hour. At the higher end, it's $27 an hour. And those are, you know, those are actually great rates, right? Unfortunately, not that great if you're living in New York City. Um that's probably one of the things that's not working, right? Um but um wages overall for everyone. Um but I think for us that's really two at least two of the things that we think are working. Um, one of the things I think that's not working is uh unfortunately for the like uh either young adults or working age adults who are not connected to school, right? Um there aren't the as many opportunities for paid training um programs. And so that to me is one of the areas that we're hopefully we'll see more um because people still need to pay bills while they further their either their job training, you know, they're while they're in job training programs and furthering their skills. They still have real life situations that are occurring at home that they need to manage and usually those are things that are connected to finances. I mean it's improved. I mean I I for 10 years ran opportunities for a better tomorrow and we worked with with uh with youth uh and you're right we we had an integrated vocational and educational model. So that integration matters but we didn't have as a lot of resources on the back end for for paid uh workplace opportunities. So um I I second second that. All right. This is a question that's going to pose to everybody. We're going to start with you Eileen. So we're going to double up on you. Uh what actually brings we're going to go to the macro now. what actually brings a neighborhood to life and how do health systems, schools and community anchors work to create the kind of vibrancy we keep failing to invest in especially in our outer burough communities. I did not write that question but in our outer in our outer burough communities I but it is true. Yeah. Um and so I think um certainly neighborhoods right succeed where um all of the fin foundational institutions are working together right and that includes education that includes um CBOS um community based organizations right school systems uh and so I think I think really what what's needed is more of these u hubs right like workforce development hubs and what should be in these hubs right they have a tech hub uh out right there's Brooklyn Navyyard's going to have has this great um center there, right? So, we need one in across all the burrows. Um people in the Bronx are not traveling all the way over there uh for what even if that's an area that they're interested, they're not they're not going to travel there, right? So, we do need one in all of the burrows, but we also need to center supportive services within those hubs. Right. Right. So, very often people also need child care, right? We need to be able to know that we're able to keep, you know, have our child close by in a setting um that's safe, that's educational, so that while I'm working on myself and furthering my my skills or my education, right? So um there's a you know me you need also uh the transportation assistance to get you to and fro, right? So uh so for I think it would be sort of more of these hubs but across all the burrows across the burrows. Erin um so we I agree. I think having these hubs is very important. Um, at Metro Plus, we have community offices across the five bureaus. Um, and we use those offices not only to work with our members who might be having a problem with their insurance, but also to make sure that they're resertifying on time. Uh, we have eligibility specialists uh, who are working to make sure if our members are eligible for other supports or benefits. Um, really trying to look at the whole person to determine how best to serve them. Um and those community centers also serve as opportunities to bring other organizations to our our space uh to partner with them on educational uh forums but also building trust in the community. Um you know there's a lot in respect to messaging that needs to be uh disseminated. um you know and being able to partner with key organizations helps us to have those trusted messengers to build relationships with the communities that we are located in and working with. And then the other thing that I'll say is I think one of the things that's so important about it from specifically the the health care perspective is when we talk about um you know the social determinance of health, right? We talk about food, we talk about education, we talk about literacy. Um, being able to have these spaces and have robust options in communities where people are able to engage in multiple languages to have culturally competent food goes a long way in helping to ensure that uh information is being provided to people. but also in the context of this broader issue of how are we uh disrupting health patterns and making sure that people are getting the care that they need. Um and that is a is a product of these environments. Erin, I I like the fact you stressed partnerships too, right? Um you know, and and and Jane, same question, but if if you could also sort of how important is partnerships to achieve your goals to to have more universality in in in terms of work work based learning? absolutely critical. Um, and cosign on both what Eileen and Erin said. I think for us, um, there are two things, right? There are incredible things going on at New York City public schools and we have to figure out how do we get that message out there. How do we amplify our students and all of the experiences that they are having so that they are seen by their peers and also other families as their own children are coming up the ranks? And part of that is just to see the economic mobility that's actually happening in their neighborhoods. So to your point about having partners, we absolutely need um partners, employing employer partners on the macro level across the city and like the big big players, but you know folks who are community-based also if they give workplace based learning opportunities to our students, there's a level in which they are seen which you know almost is even more impactful than when a student is you know going down to a sort of a really big network. Um so that those are two really critical things. And then I would I would say the third piece is to just um we have to be really data driven about the work. And so we work really hard at New York City public schools to ensure that the industries we were looking at were actually ones that were really um income generating to really provide economic mobility for families and to just stick with it, right? and get that like it isn't it's hard to get labor market information and we need that if we're going to sort of keep with the times and and continue the acceleration of the work that we're doing. It's great and I I just would would say that when working with smaller employers the challenge the workforce system has always had with smaller employers and I guess it would extend to to career pathways programs is that it's not to scale right that small employers can only take one or two. uh when we were doing you know job placement we always had these goals and we would always look for larger employers that would take a lot of our participants that said there are intermediaries like chambers of commerces like bids like LDC's that could help aggregate it uh and and we've done some great work with uh public schools and we've done some great work with some of our community partners to to sort of aggregate that and give particularly young uh young adults uh an opportunity to work in small business and by the way you learn a lot in a small business because one day you know you're answering the phone the next day you're doing payroll. Trust me, it's And you can do it, too. And we'll we'll have you do it. Don't worry. It'll work. Um, we're going to switch to this question because if I don't get to this question, Greg is going to going to kill me. Um, if New York wants to rec and this is for everybody. We're going to start uh with Andrew. If New York wants to reclaim its status as the world's most dynamic city, what's the one bold transformative move the next administration must make within the next 12 months? No pressure. Um, listen, I think there's both. I think one, it's it's just a philosophy of how they operate. I would say they need to implement an operational structure within the administration that is focused on achieving big goals efficiently and strategically. And I know that kind of sounds like a lot of this, but who is reporting to whom? How are things getting done through the chain of command? Um, for example, I use outdoor dining. I mean, this is one thing, maybe not the biggest that's going to change anything, but during the pandemic, it literally changed the streetscape, saved 100,000 jobs, thousands of restaurants in the transition into this new program out of the pandemic. There's some good things about the program, but there's also some problems with the program. We've seen small business participation plummet, specifically outside of Manhattan, which was so amazing during the pandemic because in all these neighborhoods where restaurants never had outdoor dining, they were able to set up tables and chairs. It created more jobs. It bought people onto the streets, which gave it a vibrancy, which helped other retail, which helped with public safety, which gave people an opportunity to dine alresco in their own communities. So, I think fixing outdoor dining, but big picture, there needs to be a system in place to allow big policies to get done in efficient way. All right. Well, fix outdoor dining. We'll give them credit for that. One bold transformative move. Leah, I'd say every initiative um that they come up with, make sure that they have measurable um goals and how to monitor what they're doing because a lot of times we come up with these great ideas, but if we don't have very specific ways on how we're going to measure it, it kind of falls even the great ideas fall to the wayside. And I would also say, you know, as contracts are going out for building and construction, we look at performance, but look at retention and look at development. Retention of the workers, retention of the workers and development of the workers. And so it's not just a performance-based metric, but also has this contract, is this company retaining the workers, because that's really what what really builds the workforce. That's that's good, Eileen. So, um I'll use this as a a flat platform to to push um you know something that is near to dear to my heart but also to the human services sector. Um, I think, you know, certainly the bold move would be to recognize the fact that a lot of what needs to happen in New York City needs to happen in partnership with the human services sector. And in order for us to succeed in partnership, in collaboration with the city of New York, we need to fully fund the cost of the programs that they're asking us to operate. And so that includes making sure that we have rent lines, right? Who whoever thought you want us to operate a program in a space, guess what? We need to pay rent. Yes, that needs to be included. Why should we pay for that? So, include a rent line in our budget. Include cost escalations, right? Cost escalators would include rent would also include our uh our salaries, right? In order for these programs to succeed, you need staff. And staff can only stay if you're paying a decent salary. And so those to me are critically important and can't be understated. Over overhead matters, folks. Right. And by the way, as much as we can beat up government on this, I I will say that uh philanthropy and the foundations are not great on this either. No, they're not. All right. So, let's extend that to philanthropy and the foundations. Overhead matters. Yes, you're up. So, uh transformation takes a long time. it's doesn't happen in three three and a half years. Um, if you're doing the work really well and you're really datadriven, you are really looking at what's working and making continuous improvement. And so what I would say to the administration is if we can show that things are working and they have strong metrics, we got to keep investing in them and we have to listen to all of the different stakeholders that are doing the work with us. Um, one example that we have is, um, as we did our industry aligned workforce work with our students, we realized that health care, as everyone here knows, is a critical piece. And so, uh, with a lot of support from the Diamond Foundation who had really seated a lot of our work, we now have a healthcare accelerator because what we're realizing is like, oh, we've got to double down on that, right? Um, and to be able to do that kind of like V2 type work, we have to ensure that, you know, there's not this radical change every three years. If something's not working, sure, we should be thinking about how to do it differently. But if we see that we are on the road to transformation, we got to keep going. That's good. Erin, for some reason I was going to say um really uh I think Eileen's comment uh triggered this, but um really taking advantage of new eyes and looking at the contracting process. Um I think that's been a real challenge. Um and you know I think progress has been made but it has been slow and I think because of the reliance specifically on you know the health and human services network I think that is really paramount uh to focus on. Um I would also say that you know I do think that pretty significant change can happen in three and a half years. You know we we've seen big successes happen in this city. um you know UPK for example you know at the time everyone you know thought how how is this going to happen um now go away and then that's the point like we kept it going to make it better you know and we kept it going to make it better and now right there's a framework to extend that right and to get us to a place of uh expanded child care and so I think to to look at our successes when things are working really double down on it invest in it invest in the the not just the structure but invest in the the workforce as well. I think that's really critically important. Um keeping people energized and enthusiastic about the work. Um especially in government I think is critical. Um, so those are my significant everyone, but I think one of those things that is a legacy policy is universal child care that will live on and help so many people in so many different ways. And that's what's going to really make a mark and has to get done. And Andrew was reading my mind and and I know him a long time. this guy, nobody does it better than him in terms of advocating for for his industry. Um, and you're absolutely right. I agree with you. Uh, um, okay, we're gonna close and uh, so some closing uh, sort of remarks. Um, first of all, thank you to this amazing panel. You guys, I have no doubt that the next four years are going to be great because of all of you and the work that you do. Fingers crossed. Um, I will say this a food for thought as you go, we go to the awards next, I think, and then you go to cocktail reception. Um, we talk a lot about losing millionaires, and we talk a lot about how do we help low-income New Yorkers and in some cases that has dominated the debate, policy debates for so long. If you're a millionaire, this is a great city. You'll be okay. We'll lose a few, but they'll come back. There ain't no place like New York. If you're a low-inccome New Yorker and you qualify for benefits, okay, you'll be here. The vast middle class, which still has the opportunity to leave, may leave if we don't figure out the type of city that we want and how to make it affordable for everybody, right? And they don't qualify for anything. So, we have to understand that it's not just the extremes, but it's everyone else in the middle who do the work that we really do need to give some thought and consideration to. With that, thank you everybody. What a great conference. Appreciate you all. Good. Hey everybody, how's it going? How you feeling? We are literally one minute early. Can you believe that? And that isn't that remarkable. Let me just say one thing. One thing only right here before we get into the opportunity awards. Uh please give a round of applause to Stephanie Birmingham, the star and powerhouse of NYC etc. Last night we took a car to get back to Brooklyn. Um and I apologize because we were debriefing the day and I think I nodded off. Not because you're not amazing, but I think that might have been uh I was breaking down in real time. I was still talking. Oh. Oh, this is the kind of rapport we actually have with each other. All right, so listen. Um, thank you for today. We're going to do uh one or two things to close us our ourselves out because they're setting up right now outside for cocktail hour. We have some awards to present and we're very very excited about doing that. Um, just as a reminder, the opportunity awards, we offered up, we gave out some of these awards yesterday. I just want to remind you where these awards came from. Stephanie, you want to say a word or two about where these awards are from and who made these awards for us? Yep. We just want to thank BWI and Brooklyn Woods program. They handmade these awards in Brooklyn and we're uh pleased to share them with you today. Yes. And so we have two specific awards that we start with to acknowledge folks with their history of commitment and service to the coalition, to the larger workforce development space, to our community and the city. We do that first and that's going to be one individual and one corporate honore and then we have the specific opportunity awards that and I just want to remind everybody we put out the word to our entire network for how many weeks and weeks to be able to tell us who it is that should be honored and awarded at this particular conference. So if you remember yesterday we had five folks who got awards because their colleagues and their peers in this particular work championed them. We had how many nominations by the way altogether? We had 40 or 50 a million. We had a million million cajillion nominations. It It broke the Asana form. We literally broke the We give it up for breaking forms. That's what NYCTC is all about. Okay. So our first award uh I am very uh excited uh and pleased uh that we are going to take this moment to acknowledge um a very special person in this particular work in this particular universe and I wanted just the right person to be able to be acknowledge this distinguished character in our particular universe. So I'm going to ask Chris Watler to come out right now. Let's give it up for Chris Watler, Exec VP at Center for Employment Opportunities. and and and Chris, it is your turn. It's my turn to celebrate Rodri. Oh, awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Now, anyone who knows Roderick knows that right now he's he's squeaming a little bit in his chair. He's, you know, not someone who really um embraces the limelight. I I really wrote something on LinkedIn about Roderick and I I I won't read all of it, but I want to share some of it. I was at his retirement event and just an incredible there was a lot of love in the room. People came out um to celebrate him after 27 27 years um helping New York City's workforce community. But there's a part of it that for me was a very personal part and something that I I'll share with you all. Throughout my career, I've interacted with many incredible philanthropic leaders. I know how hard it is it can be when you are a funer and everyone wants to meet with you. I'd like to think I had a special relationship with Roderick given our mutual interest in the fact that a black male program officer and a black male fundraising leader for a nonprofit are so rare in the nonprofit world. Yet during the event, as I watched Roderick reminisce with a diverse group of current and former grantees, I realized something. Roderric was accessible to everyone. He made everyone feel important and that their work mattered. He saw everyone's humanity and found ways to relate to them authentically. For for years, Roderric has been a guide for me. Uh when I started at CEO and started reaching out to funders, he was one of the few funders who would talk to me. And it always felt like it was a a friendship, a relationship. And Roderick demanded a lot. He wanted to see the data. He wanted to make sure the program was good because the little dollars that he had to fund, he wanted to make sure those were those dollars were going to the to the right things. And I think that Roderick for me really understood what I was going through because he understood what the people who come for the services that he funded needed because of his background, because of the work he did before he came to philanthropy. So I I was when I was asked to give him his flowers today and give him this award, I immediately jumped up to do it mostly to see if I could get him to squirm a little bit more. But um please join me in congratulating Roderick Jenkins. Thank you. And he's the only person who calls me Christopher other than my mother. I used to get in trouble. So All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I have prepared remarks. This is unusual for me. Uh I have to unfold this piece of paper. They told me I had to I had to say something. So um this is an honor. I have to say that. I didn't expect it, but it's uh I think someone mixed up the envelopes. I think it's a mistake. I'm out of the game. I'm out. I'm out. Been out six weeks and I can tell you that the price is right and TV shows. I'm I'm very much into that now. Uh I watched the weather reports and the weather maps. I haven't had lunch with Christopher in six weeks. We were having like we'd have really monthly lunches, you know, we were friends. It it's um so I don't really I can't accept this on behalf of the New York Community Trust. I you know I'm out. I you know I'll give me they'll give me a contract I think in January which is fun but I'll never go back into the office. Um so I'm going to accept it on behalf of all of you the true heroes of the workforce development sector. So you know you all get up every day and do what you have to do. I know that it's your work is a lot like trying to fill a fire bucket and somebody stole the water, you know, and you're facing every issues. You all are dealing with something. Um AI and how it's going to change the workforce and I heard a lot about that before I walked out the door. Uh funding cliffs, political whiplash, and the labor market that always seems to be in crisis. So, but you all keep showing up and that's what made it for me, you know? That's what got it for me. That's what connected. That's what that's what mattered to me that you all got up every day and call me and I answer the phone. I tried to answer the phone. I actually tried to answer the telephone. Um, you know that small miracles can happen. I know that they can happen. you know that the career and helping people get careers can change lives, can change families, and eventually change communities. And I I tried to do what I could do. Um, thank you for this. So, all I can say is I'll accept this on the behalf of everybody here. This isn't for me. This is on behalf of y'all, you know. Um, thank you. I I have never expected this in any day of the year. This is This is uh Thanks a lot, y'all. By the way, one more round of applause for Rodri Jenkins, friend to all of us, honoring you for his service over the years. And and Rodrik, by the way, um as we've talked about, I know where you are upstate. My parents live up there, and I they're gonna take you to lunch at some point. We're going to make that happen in retirement. The retirement community can hang out in upstate New York. I love that. Um so, uh Rodrik, a phenomenal friend and colleague. Now, we need to switch gears to our corporate honore. Um and many of us have been extraordinarily lucky to have been supported by Khan Edison and their focus on the workforce development space. And I could not be happier to extend this award. Could not be happier to bring up Jen Mitchell, the president CEO of the Dough Fund to honor the Con Edison team. Thank you so much, Jen. The floor is yours. Thank you, Greg. Round of applause for Greg and Stephanie. How amazing has this conference been? I mean, they are complete with like an amazing contra conference, contentfilled days, bracelets that change color. Who knew? Did anyone else notice that? That your bracelet has changed color depending on like how hot your body is. It's very interesting. All right. Anyhow, I'm here to give an award and my awardee is down there. Okay. So, again, I'm Jennifer Mitchell. I am here as a proud member of the NYC board of directors. Um, I'm also the president and CEO of the DOE fund. Also very proud of that. Um, and it's a really incredible honor to present the opportunity award today. We are all here today and we've all been here for two full days of contentfilled materials because we believe in a New York City where everybody has a fair shot. We represent organizations. I see so many faces out there from so many different organizations and in my case the DO fund that empower people who for too long have faced barriers to economic mobility. At the DO fund with 2,000 people in our care on any given night and over 15,000 people who have benefited from our programs and gone from homelessness to jobs and housing. We are really really proud of the work we do and the training and the support and the stability and the opportunities we provide to help rebuild lives and to help people enter the workforce with confidence. But none of this happens in isolation and it takes committed partners across many sectors. It take part it takes partners who understand that workforce development is not an investment in people but it is an investment in the future of our entire city. Khan Edison understands this. They understand this better than most companies do. And for generations, and I know there's a few people from Khan Edison in the room, so this is for all of you. For generations, they have advanced sustainability. They've invested in community partnerships. They've expanded access to good jobs and real career pathways. They've shown how corporate leadership can fuel shared prosperity. I've experienced that commitment firsthand at the Doe Fund. This year, Khan Edison made a critical investment in our new HVAC occupational training program. This training program will help New Yorkers experiencing homelessness gain a gain a trade that leads to stronger wages and long-term stability. Their support will fuel wages for trainees as they build the hands-on skills, earn industry recognized certifications, and step into a growing sector essential to New York City's clean energy future. Also, as an NYC ETC board member, I've seen Khan Edison's commitment. Khan Edison has invested in the NYC Green Launchpad Partnership and made it possible. K, what is that you may wonder? K Edison support has empowered employers to define the skills and pathways needed for New York's clean energy future. It has helped to launch the employer-led New York City Energy Efficiency Workforce Coalition, which aligns real business demand with the city's training ecosystem. I mean, there were so many conversations over the past two days about like systems and and improving systems. That is literally what the New York City Energy Efficiency Workforce Coalition is going to do. So by funding this work, KEED, you are building connective tissue between climate goals, employer hiring needs, and the workers who will drive this transition. And so without further ado, for her leadership, for her and KED's partnership, and for their unwavering support, please join me in welcoming KED's Nancy Shannon to accept the NYC Opportunity Award, this beautiful wood award made by BWI's training program. Come on. One more round. Sure. Thank you. Okay. O, that's a bright light. Um, so I do have prepared remarks, but where's where's the KED, folks? All right. Okay. Yes. Okay. Oh, hey guys. Hillary, Ruth, these lights are blinding. Um, so thank you so much, Jennifer, and it is a pleasure and an honor to accept this award. Um, I I want to say that uh in 2023 alone, we hired 1,700 new employees. This isn't on my script, but 1,700 new employees, most of them from the communities that we serve and 50% from disadvantaged community. So, I just want that is like an all-time hiring number. A little bit lower in 24, but we will continue to have um job growth and as you said to support our clean energy commitment. So, just a tremendous opportunity and continued partnership. So, just wanted to say that I've been with Con Edison for 37 years and I absolutely love the company that I work for. Um, I know I can't believe it either. I I look like 47 maybe. Um, but you know, there's a reason I stay and and it's not, you know, I love the company, but the company is made up of people and all the people in this room that do this work is so meaningful and so it continues to keep me there. Um, so I'll turn to my prepared remarks. Right. So, um, more than 9 million New Yorkers rely on us for our worldclass reliability, and they they require it of it. We're New Yorkers. They expect us to be reliable. And our our city depends on our reliable grid to power the world's financial capital, the top hospitals in the city, 247 subway system, and important government and cultural institutions. Over the last few years, we've reshaped how we invest in our communities, focusing more intentionally on partnering with nonprofits that are finding solutions to impacts of extreme weather, improving resiliency, supporting disadvantaged communities, and preparing New Yorkers for green jobs. As responsible stewards of our customers dollars, we ensure every dollar counts through operational efficiency and technology. Additionally, we invest in our community partners, providing more than $23 million in grants funded by shareholder dollars to support local initiatives. For me, as I mentioned, this work is personal. I've spent my career at Khan Edison. I've been in environment, health and safety, employee wellness, um, human resources. Most of the organizations have been either been about environment, health, and safety or the people. And across every role, that's been a constant. And we look to create opportunities for both our in internal folks to succeed and folks from the external communities as well. I know I'm going to go on a little bit here, so I got to get some more numbers in. In 2024, I find this incredible. And we talk about economic impact to the city that we serve. In 2024, our investment supported nearly 38,000 local jobs. That's one in every 350 jobs in New York State. And that commitment goes far beyond grant making. We're working to remove real barriers and help people thrive through workforce pathways. Our clean energy and technology careers signature community initiatives are a great example of $4 million investment over three years in programs that are showing real results. Across all five burrows, 280 participants have been trained with more than 100 job placements and an 85% graduation rate. and trainees have obtained industry certifications which are directly tied to employer demand. Many of you in this room work closely with them. They are true lynch pins building trust, strengthening partnerships, and ensuring that our support aligns with the real needs of our community organizations. Their leadership and your leadership makes this work possible. New York has ambitious climate goals. We all know that. and the state as the state largest and best utility. We see our role not just as an energy provider but also as an economic driver. Our planned infrastructure investments, I'm going to say this number and I'll say it twice, over 21 billion in planned investments. 21 billion. It's not just about the pipes and the wires in the ground and overhead. It's about jobs, opportunity, and the long-term resilience of our communities. Offscript, but so many of the new substations we're building are in the local communities, namely in Brooklyn and Queens, and we look to support those communities, find jobs for those in the communities and the small businesses that work there. Um, we know none of this can be done alone. So, collaboration across businesses, unions, educators, and city agencies and all of you is absolutely essential. Almost done. So, we are partnering with our communities to build the clean energy workforce that New York urgently needs. I want to thank you again for your partnership, your leadership, and your unwavering commitment to the people of New York. Thanks very much. All right, give it up one more time for our fabulous honores. And now allow me to introduce or reintroduce our fabulous co-chairs of this particular conference, Debbie Roman and Kala Mu. Give them a round of applause for the next round of opportunity awards. Thank you so much, Greg. And let's give it a round of applause again to our two recent honores that we just provided and recognized through this leadership. So, how are we all feeling two days? Good. Yes. Excited. We're going to take everything we learned, right, Kalilla? We're going to take everything we learned notes. Exactly. We took a lot of notes. So, mine if I read a little bit. So is if there is a through line across everything we heard in the last two days is this. We know what works like supportive services, benefit navigation, quality training tied to real jobs, strong employee partnerships. We also know who's doing the work, which is all of you. Many of them, all of you are in this room and those that are in the community- based organizations, campuses and agencies across all five buraus. And we know what is at stake if we don't do something about what needs to be done. And that is the ability to force New Yorker to not just get by, but to build wealth, stability, and joy in this city that we all love. So this evening as we close out today, this two amazing day conference, our opportunity award honores embody that truth. They show us that what it looks like to push past constraints, to design for dignity, to expand the circle of who gets to benefit from the city's prosperity. They remind us that leadership is not just a title. It is a practice of opening doors and holding them open for others. So, I'm going to call out five amazing individuals and I'm going to ask each and every one of you and of them if when they when they're called out, come over. Please stand at stage so we can recognize you. Um, and then we're going to take a group picture like we all did last night. Does that sound like a plan? Yeah. I want to hear it. You're all in it. You're in this. Awesome. So, please join me in giving a round of applause to our first opportunity award honory for this evening, Mary Beth William from NYC EDC. Congratulations. Now, we will bring to stage Antonia Brown from Global Kids. Congratulations. And now it is a pleasure to also call up on stage Julian Cohen from Shared Lane. Congratulations. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Now joining us in the in the stage is Lisa Futterman from Workforce Development Institute. And last but certainly not least at least is Kesha Cast from Rio Works. I love Yes. Awesome. What? Let's give it once again for our honores for this evening a round of applause. Who's taking the picture? We need pictures. We need pictures. We need pictures. And then they're right there. We got the cameras. Okay, we got the cameras rolling. Okay, last one. I need some props. You guys want to say you want? Okay. So, while we um while we wait for them to come out and close, um we started off yesterday with a bit of a call in response. Randy tried to steal you know what I did yesterday. So, I'm doing my own today. Okay. All right, girl. Okay. So, I want you to look to I didn't I didn't tell you left or right. So, this time I'll tell you look to your neighbor to your right and you can say this was amazing. Right? And you can do it. Look, this looks amazing. This is amazing. Don't you think? Look to your neighbor to your left. Say, "Go NYC." Go NYC. And then look to your neighbor to one more time. All of us. Workforce matters. Workforce matters. Again, what? Workforce matters. Workforce matters. Bring on the cocktail hour. Oh yeah. Okay. We need that. But now we're going to have Greg Morris Greg really close us out this amazing two day. It has been absolutely a pleasure to see each and every one of you to spend time with this amazing group of people who really are driving the workforce and the uh prosperity for all of New York City. So, thank you so much. Give them a round of applause again. Okay, as they set up outside with beverages and cocktails, I do have some props to close this out. Once again, I'm Greg. I'm the CEO of the New York City Employment Training Coalition. Thank you so much for these uh this time that we spend together, but more importantly for the work that you do day in and day out. You know, I'm I started this conference by talking about u my parents. I started this conference by talking about what it feels like to feel like you're home. Um, and I just I just want to say to you, um, I hope you felt some of what it is that I talked about. Um, I did feel as though that was a bit of a theme that that came through in some of our panels and some of the conversations that you heard about. And I do hope that you feel like these last two days lighten the load. Um, there's much more to do. And when I talk about what the future of this coalition is and how it works and where it's going, there's a few things that are important for me to share. Uh, forgive the visual aids, but I'm just going to do it like this, or at least from this particular perspective. I do want you to be aware of a couple things that are happening right now with the New York City Employment and Training Coalition projects and engagements that are currently in play right now. Uh, give a round of applause to our friends at the Green Launchpad. The engagement with the Energy Efficiency Employer Workforce Coalition. Thank you very much. Our alignment and partnership with the Westside Work Coalition as well continues to this day. Thank you for that. A shout out to that group. Another loving and supportive round of applause to all of the providers that are connected to New York Presbyterian and the work that we've been doing to support the healthcare network in New York City. And to everyone who's been part of our benchmarking project, the workforce benchmarking network with the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce. Thank you. We have now established an advisory council as well because the conversation about benchmarking in New York City continues to grow, continues to expand and it has been a lot of work that has been done by etc WPTI jobs first to be able to support that work. It continues and we continue to build on that conversation which is all about how do we learn about what we're measuring? How do we learn what other folks are doing and how do we take it and build it from there? Once again, for all of you who are connected to these NYC ETC projects in alignment with all of our coalition intermediary partners, thank you very much. That work will continue in 2026. And I can tell by your applause you're looking forward to drinks. Here it is. I also want to advise you of one thing, and there is a typo on this, but I expect you not to pay attention to that. We did in 2025, not 2023. As AI reported, we put together the putting our dollars to work report. I just want to remind you the only reason this report came to be, by the way, was through the work of David Fiser. It was through the work and support of uh uh New York Community, the New York Community Trust. Um it came to be because of the effort that we made to try to tell the story about how it is that public money is spent on workforce development in New York City. And the story was the dollars largely go to young adult programs. And that was not a judgment. It was simply a matter of saying we can do better in support of young adults. We have to support our working adults as well. That's part of what putting our dollars to work is all about. And I don't suppose he's listening, but if he is, Brett Halverson has been in my ear. Some of you may know our friend and champion of workforce, cranky soul that he is, Brett Halverson, and he's reminded me over and over again to take a very close, a laser-like look at how it is that the city determines how these public dollars are spent and does it go to entities that are not for-profit or for-profit organizations. You could expect in 2026, we're going to have a report to tell that story. And that story again isn't necessarily about saying what's right or wrong. It's simply about saying what should we know, what should we be responsive to, and how do we go from here to be able to result in the best outcomes. Once again, look forward in 2026 to our putting our dollars to work round two, which will be about how it is we think about the forprofit and not for-p profofit space. No applause for that. That's okay. All right, that's fine. We're almost there. Here it is. Okay. do want to remind you of one or two other things as we close out. And this one says, "As a reminder, we focused on the workforce development agenda back earlier this year in 2026. We will build on that. Everything from how it is that we think about civil service and how it is that we increase accessibility to civil service to how it is that we think about reskilling and upskilling workers to how it is we continue to support the human services contracting and everything in between. I just want you to be aware this agenda which you helped set by virtue of what matters to you continues. The work continues with a new city council and a new mayor in place. That's the workforce development agenda. We're always interested in communications and we're always interested in storytelling. We launched the NYC Workforce Drop podcast to try to tell some of the story about the people who are doing this work, what matters, what's valuable, what's coming next. For those of you who've been part of the podcast, thank you. For those of you who'd like to be part of the podcast, let us know. Please be advised that while I host the podcast right now, the desire is to have a rotating set of guest hosts as well to tell these stories and to talk about economic mobility. The next podcast that comes out, it features Kathy Wild, who received an opportunity award just yesterday. So once again, and I've heard from a couple people, they listen to this while folding laundry or by walking their dog. That doesn't matter to me. All I care about is that we're telling your stories, our stories, and stories that count in support of workforce development. The workforce drop continues. Just as a reminder to you, less swag, more good. If you look outside, I'm so happy to see the jars filled with all the tokens in there and the organizations that are going to receive your support. So, what you would have gotten for a tote bag, a sweater, a hat. I know we gave some of those away from the past, but those of you who know this, you may have come in late, may not have seen it, but just be aware instead of doing the traditional swag, we're making donations to our friends in the sector. I want you to be aware how much that matters to us. Thank you for stepping up and supporting us. I hope in your head you'll think of us. Um, and you'll think about less swag, more good. Last comment. This is it. Last board. Nothing more after this. Now, in order to be able to do this, I need some of my friends and partners up here. So, I'm going to ask Sherzad from WPTI to come up. And our good friend David Fischer, I know, is right out there. David Fischer, come on up. He should be somewhere out there. Where's David? There he is. We operate in this strange Yeah. Give it up for these this crew. We operate in this very strange intermediary space. Uh I think we appreciate it. We love it. We make the most out of it in the ways that we can. But our job is about representing and supporting others. And I'm thrilled to say thrilled to say in support and in recognition of a lot of conversation over the years about how it is that we partner and we align and we engage. I just want everyone here to be aware that the Empire State Workforce Network will launch in 2026. Now this is the Empire State Workforce Network. The desire of this network is to supercharge the people and partnerships that power New York and that is workforce development. So I want you to be aware right now and you can join us if you want to know more about the launch and the plans for the future. You can scan that code right up there because what that is going to be about is how it is that our organizations stand in support of New York State. And please be aware of the following thing. This only came to pass because the fund for the city of New York stepped up in support of our work. So we will be a project partnership with the fund for the city of New York. So I want to say that this is going to be how it is that New York State continues to position itself and support itself in support and in response to what's happening on a federal level and how NYC can benefit and how NYC needs to push back. Key elements of this will include policy development and advocacy work and the capacity development piece which I'm proud to say WPTI will support in full as a partnership with this new entity the Empire State Workforce Network. I also want to acknowledge the following thing. The NIAT team that works extraordinarily hard under David's direction are champions and partners and we align with them. This is not about taking anything away. This is not about anything other than how it is that we can continue to strengthen our work in alignment and in support because we know we know in many ways sometimes our work overlaps. We know in some cases that we are sometimes competitors for different grants and opportunities and as intermediaries. The reality of this particular moment is we know we can do more and we can do better and we do it when we do it together. So on that note, um to my friends, it is an honor and a privilege to partner with you. This has been a long journey and a complicated one and I'm thrilled that you are all scanning that code right now because when all the news drops in 2026, you're going to want every single detail imaginable. One more time, let let's give it up for our Empire State. Let's give it up for WPTI. Let's give it up for NIATE. Let's give it up for NYC. And now I turn to our friend Sherzad because I think you've got an announcement to make about what's next for our time together. I do. Thank you, Greg. We are um so excited to be the capacity building partner. We've been informally, formally, all the things partnering with both of you for so many years and now to see an ability for us to continue to strategically support the workforce development field. Congratulations. Um I am here to share that we are hosting the closing reception. So, I think what we've all been waiting for, right, is a celebration, is some relief, is some final hugs and um thank yous. So, we hope that you'll join us. Uh some of our board members will also be here. They're really excited to meet the wonderful workforce community. So, if you see someone that says, "I'm a work a WPTI board member," let them know about the work that you do because we are always telling them and advocating for why we do this work on your behalf and that we have the privilege to do. So, please join us outside. outside. I think we're all set up and we hope that you'll stay with us through about 6:00. Thank you all and congratulations to Greg and Stephanie and the full team for an incredible two-day conference.